Minnesota governor issues ‘warning order’ for state's National Guard after ICE shooting

WASHINGTON

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that he has issued a “warning order” to prepare the state’s National Guard for possible deployment following the killing of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

“I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary,” he said at a news conference shortly after the shooting.

Walz said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading an investigation into the shooting and the state has activated its emergency operations center.

Dozens of members of the State Patrol’s Mobile Response Team have also been activated, he added.

Addressing President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Walz said: “You’ve done enough. There’s nothing more important than Minnesotan safety.”

Waltz called the situation “chaotic,” noting that it is “caused by the largest deployment in American history of federal agents into a community with no communication to locals.”

“This was totally predictable and it was totally avoidable,” he said, arguing that the federal deployment did not make the community “any safer.”

“We don't have any of that coordination. They should be talking to us,” he said.

A 37-year-old woman was killed Wednesday after being shot by an ICE agent during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis, with federal officials saying the agent fired in “self-defense” after she allegedly tried to strike officers with her vehicle, an account disputed by local authorities.