**ICE agents used tear gas to keep protesters at bay on Lyndale Avenue, near 24th Avenue North.** Photo by David Pierini

By Melody Hoffmann, David Pierini and Azhae’la Hanson, North News

A man was shot in the leg by an ICE agent on Wednesday night after a car crash and foot chase shortly before 7 p.m. on the 600 block of 24th Avenue North, where the man lived.

News of the incident quickly spread across social media and drew crowds of angry protesters. At one point, ICE agents released tear gas on this block where children could be seen watching from windows.

The City of Minneapolis was already on edge one week after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Macklin Good on the southside.

**Agents take step back as protestors shout a stream of invective at 25th and Lyndale.** Photo by David Pierini

The unidentified man allegedly had “a struggle with a federal agent,” according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “During the struggle, the federal agent discharged his weapon, striking one adult male,” O’Hara said at a press conference Wednesday night.

A video from inside the man’s house, shared on social media, documents his wife’s call to 911 after he was shot. “ICE agents were following my husband, and they hit his vehicle,” she said through a 911 translator. “And we closed the door on him, and they shot him.”

The man stayed inside his home after the shooting. O’Hara said federal agents “eventually made entry” to his residence, and he was transported to a hospital.

**A man lay face down in protest.** Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

Injury and death had been predicted by city officials as a surge of ICE agents, now said to number more than 3,000, converged on the city as part of an immigration crackdown ordered by Donald Trump. The tactics used over the last several weeks have escalated tension throughout the city, with protesters tailing agents in their vehicles and blowing whistles to draw crowds in hopes of disrupting arrests.

**An armored vehicle wassent off with a protestor’s middle finger**. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

On Wednesday night, the rage directed at ICE agents blocking off intersections Wednesday night was palpable.

At the intersection of 27th and Lyndale, some protestors threw snowballs and water bottles at masked officers. At one point, more than 20 officers armed with riot guns held the line, retreated down the block, and used flash grenades and chemical irritants to disperse the crowd.

**A Protestor gets caught in a cloud of tear gas.** Photo by David Pierini

**Members of the crowd collapse from the irritation of tear gas.** Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

Victor Gaten tried getting in between protestors and agents to plead with the crowd not to throw things.

“I was telling them to back him,” Gaten said. “I’m trying to get them to understand that we don’t need this on the Northside. We don’t need the agitation and them swarming us. This is a political battle, and we’re caught in the middle.”

**Victor Gaten got in front of ICE agents, asking the crowd to not escalate tensions.** Photo by David Pierini

At 23rd and Lyndale, a crowd of about 100 stood outside police tape. Tension grew, when a large, armored vehicle drove into the area.

Northsider Rod Adams said the group was relatively calm up to that point until the agents in the big rig told the crowd to move.

“Nobody is going to listen to ICE and assume that they have some type of authority in this city, and specifically over North,” Adams said. “We can't control what happens when they roll up to the wrong door, so… MPD needs to arrest these (expletives) and see what happens. Let it play out. Let it play out."

**An agent responds to tension between colleagues and protestors.** Photo by Azhae’la Hansonh

Fireworks were thrown in the direction of agents and ICE responded with flash grenades and tear gas.

A woman and her children, who were trying to pull away from the scene, were blocked by traffic when a tear gas canister rolled under their car and went off. She said she and her children, the youngest of whom was 6 months old, couldn't breathe or get out of the car. She said she had to give mouth-to-mouth to her infant. They are currently seeking medical care at the hospital.

“I am extremely angry. This is not the country I grew up in,” said Annette Weir. “I feel betrayed by all the idiots who voted for Trump. When I see (ICE) firing their flash grenades, I get defiant. This isn’t going to stop me from protesting.”

State Sen. Bobby Joe Champion rushed to the scene and used his cellphone to record the scene.

He later took to Facebook to express his frustration with the federal government.

The Trump Administration wants chaos and confusion in our beloved Minnesota,” Champion wrote. “(The) Federal Government MUST STOP terrorizing Minnesota. Laws are not being followed, families and people are afraid, and the unsafe situation encouraged by ICE must stop! It is simple, ICE must and should leave now!”

A Shooting by an ICE agent on the Northside injures 1, sparks hours of protest