An officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shot and killed a driver in the Midwest, amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement in a major U.S. city. Federal authorities claim the shooting was in self-defense, while the city’s mayor criticized it as both “reckless” and unwarranted.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, during a traffic stop in a residential area just south of downtown Minneapolis. This location is a short distance from some of the city’s oldest immigrant markets and about a mile from the site where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.

The shooting quickly sparked outrage, drawing hundreds of protesters to the scene.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized the event as an “act of domestic terrorism,” alleging that the woman attempted to run over ICE officers with her vehicle.

Noem stated, “One of our officers responded swiftly and defensively by shooting to protect himself and those nearby.”

But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted that characterisation as “garbage” and criticised the federal deployment of more than 2000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul as part of the immigration crackdown.

“What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said, calling on the immigration agents to leave.

“They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people.”

“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit,” the mayor said.

Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they’d seen.

The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. The death of the Minneapolis woman, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters but, unlike federal officials, gave no indication that the 37-year-old driver was trying to harm anyone. He said she had been shot in the head.

“This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off,” the chief said.

“At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”

A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there.