In the cold early hours, a federal immigration raid on a south Minneapolis block ended with a 37-year-old local man lying dead on the pavement. Officials insist he was armed and that agents fired only after trying to disarm him. But video showing multiple officers pinning him down before gunshots rang out has ignited a city still scarred by past state violence. Within hours, protesters flooded Nicollet Avenue, met by tear gas and riot gear as nearby businesses shuttered in fear.

This latest killing, the third fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month, has become a breaking point. The governor and mayor warn that the aggressive federal crackdown is “putting lives at risk,” while DHS defends its agents as acting in self‑defense. Multiple investigations are now underway, yet residents doubt they’ll ever see full transparency. For many, this isn’t just about one raid gone deadly, but about unchecked federal power in neighborhoods that never agreed to become a battlefield.