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tina smith
‘Execution Plain and Simple’: Community Fury in Minneapolis After Deadly Shooting by Federal Agent
Rep. Ilhan Omar demanded that ICE agents "stop terrorizing our communities."
Jan 07, 2026
This a developing story... Please check back for possible updates... WARNING: This post includes graphic footage of the shooting which some people may find disturbing...
Residents of Minneapolis reacted with fury on Wednesday after a woman was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent.
Emily Heller, a Minneapolis resident who witnessed the shooting, told Minnesota Public Radio that she saw a federal agent confronting a woman who was sitting in her car and telling her to leave the area during an immigration enforcement operation in the neighborhood.
"She was trying to turn around, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in," Heller told MPR. "And he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
The identity of the woman shot by the agent has not yet been released, but US Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) wrote in a social media post that the woman was a US citizen.
The senator also said that "ICE should leave now for everyone's safety."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is also demanding that ICE leave the city, according to a post from the city's official X account.
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) echoed Smith and Frey's calls for ICE to get out of Minneapolis.
"ICE must stop terrorizing our communities and leave our city," she wrote in a social media post.
Others condemned the shooting as a clear case of criminal excessive force that should be treated as murder.
"This is an execution plain and simple," said journalist Krystal Ball in reaction to footage of the killing. "If your Trump love or immigrant hatred has you justifying murder, please seek help."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz released a statement saying that his public safety team "is working to gather information on an ICE related shooting this morning," while vowing to "share information as we learn more."
"In the meantime, I ask folks to remain calm," Walz added.
One witness, who was in the neighborhood to act as a legal observer, described horrifying scenes to local reporters:
This is what an eyewitness said pic.twitter.com/vQrLkMFpdS
— Sarah Burris (@SarahBurris) January 7, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, put out a statement acknowledging that an ICE officer had fatally shot the woman and accused her of engaging in "domestic terrorism."
"ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism," the agency claimed, without providing any evidence. "An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement, and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots."
Video footage from scene as well as testimony from witnesses, however, betrayed the agency's version of events. As one social media user said, posting the following video, "Does this look like what you’re claiming?"
Does this look like what you’re claiming pic.twitter.com/4rV8n4LuSd
— Mogana (@MoganaPhilips) January 7, 2026
A separate video from a different angle (Warning: graphic footage), also shows that the individual in the car was trying to turn the vehicle away from officers, not harm anyone:
Here's the video for those who don't have Bluesky pic.twitter.com/vM3Bsfk8Uc
— Hussain (@huspsa) January 7, 2026
Federal officials in the past have made statements about incidents involving protesters that have been flatly contradicted by officers' own body camera footage.
In November, federal prosecutors dropped assault charges against Marimar Martinez, a woman who was shot multiple times by a US Border Patrol agent in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, weeks after her attorney claimed to have seen body camera footage that completely undercut officers' claims.
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'Shut Up... You Should Be Fired': RFK Jr. Sparks Backlash With CDC Purge, School Shooting Remarks
"He is a dangerous man who is determined to abuse his authority to act on truly terrifying conspiracy theories and disinformation," said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.
Aug 28, 2025
Some US elected officials are now calling for the firing of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. amid mass resignations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and comments he made about Wednesday's mass shooting at a Catholic school.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was the first Democratic lawmaker to call for Kennedy's firing on Wednesday night, shortly after news broke that he had ousted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez, who had just been confirmed by the US Senate weeks ago. Monarez's firing subsequently triggered several other high-profile resignations at the agency.
"If there are any adults left in the White House, it's well past time they face reality and fire RFK Jr.," she said. "He is a dangerous man who is determined to abuse his authority to act on truly terrifying conspiracy theories and disinformation—leaving us unprepared for the next deadly pandemic and snuffing out potential cures while he's at it."
Kennedy further angered his critics when he appeared on Fox News Thursday morning and not only defended the purge of the CDC, but also baselessly linked this week's mass shooting at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis with the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drugs commonly used to treat clinical depression.
While speaking with the hosts of "Fox & Friends," Kennedy said that "we're launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence" such as the shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday that left two children dead and 17 other people wounded.
This drew the ire of Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who profanely called out Kennedy for peddling misinformation.
"I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don't kill kids, antidepressants do," she wrote in a social media post. "Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired."
She then wrote a follow-up post in which she noted that "there are 400 million guns in this country," which is larger than the entire population of the US.
"In America, we are 10 times more likely to be shot in a school or playground than any other developed nation," she said.
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) didn't explicitly call for Kennedy to be fired, although he labeled the HHS secretary's actions "disgraceful."
"What is happening at the CDC is truly a five-alarm fire and not receiving nearly enough attention," he wrote. "RFK Jr.'s undermining of our public health institutions will have disastrous consequences for generations."
Democratic lawmakers weren't the only ones calling for Kennedy's firing. Pradheep Shanker, a radiologist who regularly writes for the conservative National Review, also said he'd seen enough of US President Donald Trump's HHS Chief.
"RFK is a complete failure, and is making Trump's health policy look like a complete circus," he said. "If Trump has any credibility, he'll fire RFK."
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'It's Time for Kristi Noem to Resign,' Say Lawmakers After Assault on Padilla
"Every day," warned Sen. Elizabeth Warren, "Donald Trump is making this nation look more and more like a fascist state."
Jun 13, 2025
Sen. Elizabeth Warren put herself alongside other Democratic lawmakers and outside critics who say Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should resign from office following the assault on Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) at a press event she was holding inside a federal building in Los Angeles on Thursday.
"It's time for Republican Senators to speak up and support an independent investigation into what happened to Senator Padilla," Warren said Friday. "And it's time for Kristi Noem to resign."
"This is not a drill. This is an assault on our democracy." —Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Appearing on MSNBC's "All With With Chris Hayes" Thursday night, Warren explained that the attack on Padilla, who simply wanted to ask Noem questions about the ongoing Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids taking place in Los Angeles and elsewhere, is "something bigger" than a case of mistaken identity or the poor training of the officers who wrestled the Democratic lawmaker to the ground and put him in handcuffs.
"Why was Senator Padilla handcuffed?" said Warren. "He was handcuffed for asking a question. He was handcuffed for doing his job as a senator."
"Anyone who isn't already convinced that the Trump administration is trying to undermine free speech in this country; trying to shut down anyone who doesn't agree with Donald Trump and doesn't bend a knee to Donald Trump—anyone who doesn't believe that's what the Trump administration is doing," said Warren, "needs to watch that video of Senator Padilla being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed simply for trying to ask a question. That's why this is a big deal."
Warren was far from alone in her call for the immediate resignation of Noem, who, following the incident, claimed not to know who Padilla was and falsely stated that he did not identify himself, despite the video showing that he did.
"Kristi Noem should resign in disgrace," said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who also accused the secretary and her underlings at DHS of lying about the incident.
"Resign now, Kristi Noem," echoed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a social media post.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the pro-democracy watchdog group Public Citizen, called the attack on Padilla "utterly unacceptable" and held the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible.
"This was an open event, and the senator was there to do his job and represent his state," said Gilbert. "Answering the questions of a sitting U.S. senator with assault is a blatant abuse of power, demonstrating the Trump administration's increasingly brazen authoritarian tendencies."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also weighed in, saying that those responsible for the treatment of Padilla must be held to account.
"The assault in California by federal agents against my colleague Sen. Alex Padilla was outrageous, and those responsible must be held accountable," said Sanders. "Tragically, what happened to Sen. Padilla today is becoming normal behavior for a Trump administration which is moving us toward authoritarianism."
In a floor speech in the U.S. Senate following the assault on Padilla, Warren called on her Senate colleagues to condemn Noem's actions and the increasingly authoritarian moves by Trump's cabinet and federal agencies under his command.
"Every day, Donald Trump is making this nation look more and more like a fascist state," Warren warned.
"This is not a drill. This is an assault on our democracy," she declared. "I am calling on my Republican colleagues to join us in demanding a bipartisan investigation into this incident. What happened at this press conference was disgraceful. It was un-American. And every member of the United States Senate should condemn it and condemn it now."
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