Gov. Tim Walz has told the Minnesota National Guard to be ready. On Wednesday he said he had issued a warning order, a first step that alerts 13,000 guard members they may be called on if unrest breaks out. The order followed the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing, Walz said he supported the rights of demonstrators and urged them to protest peacefully. His anger was aimed at Washington. “What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict,” he said. “It’s governing by reality TV, and today, that recklessness cost someone their life.”
He asked Minnesotans not to take the bait. “We won’t let them tear us apart. We’ll not turn against each other,” Walz said. “I feel your anger. I’m angry. They want a show. We can’t give it to them.”
Like a number of other Minnesota Democrats, he called for federal law enforcement to leave the state. “To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: you have done enough,” Walz said.
Warnings from state officials
Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, urged “safe and lawful” protests. Blocking freeways or damaging property, he warned, could bring fines and arrest. “Minnesota residents and visitors have the right to peacefully demonstrate,” Jacobson said, adding that the focus is on keeping demonstrators, community members, drivers and law enforcement safe.
Politicians split
President Donald Trump described the victim in a social media post as a “professional agitator” and said video of the incident shows the ICE agent acting in self-defense. He blamed “The Radical Left” for threatening law enforcement.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison said he was “very angry”. “For weeks, we’ve watched the Trump administration deliberately brutalize our communities, and now an ICE agent has fatally shot one of our neighbors,” he said. He told residents to protest peacefully and said nothing would keep Minnesotans safer than ICE leaving the state.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar called for full transparency and an investigation. She said she was deeply concerned that statements from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security do not appear to reflect video evidence and on-the-ground accounts. She also cited Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, saying federal agents were sent onto the streets against the wishes of local law enforcement.
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a St. Paul Democrat, said ICE must immediately cease its actions in Minnesota so that officials can restore order and run an independent, transparent investigation. St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said she joined Mayor Frey in demanding that ICE leave the cities. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she was “devastated and furious.”
Republicans struck a different note. U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer wrote on X that he prayed federal officers on the ground “remain safe,” and called Walz and Jacob Frey “cowards who are inciting violence to distract from their own failures.” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said peaceful protest must be protected but “endangering law enforcement officers is never acceptable.” He urged everyone to step back and let investigators examine the facts.
David Titus, interim executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said the group stands “firmly behind law enforcement officers, accountability under the law, and the safety of every Minnesota community.”
