The fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal law-enforcement officer is laying bare the sharp divides in American politics – and threatening to inflame an already contentious debate over immigration policy.
The incident took place in broad daylight. There are multiple videos taken by bystanders from various locations. And yet even the basic facts are being disputed.
Almost immediately after the shooting, two starkly different accounts began to take shape. Any ambiguities in the videos shared online were seized upon - different angles and different screengrabs were used to push a particular narrative.
And on the public stage, state and federal officials openly disagreed.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the driver – 37-year-old Renee Good – was to blame. As she drove away from ICE officers, she weaponised her car in a domestic terror attack, Noem said.
President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post, blamed a professional agitator and a radical left movement of violence and hate.
National Democrats and state and local officials in Minnesota have painted a completely different picture.
Jacob Frey, the Democratic Mayor of Minneapolis, said a federal agent recklessly used lethal force. He also issued an expletive-laced demand for immigration enforcement officials to leave the city.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting totally predictable and totally avoidable, arguing it was a direct consequence of the surge in federal immigration officers into Minneapolis and surrounding areas in recent days.
This clear division between the federal government and local officials was only further illustrated on Thursday morning, when the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that the justice department and the FBI were no longer cooperating with its investigation into the shooting.
Federal agencies, it said, would be solely responsible for handling the investigation into the use of lethal force by the ICE agent.
It is ironic because Good's death occurred just a few miles from where, in 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd during an attempted arrest, setting off nationwide Black Lives Matters protests.
The recent surge in immigration enforcement comes after Trump derided the state's large Somali immigrant population – most of whom are US citizens – after members of the community were convicted of widespread fraud in the distribution of federal Covid aid.
The intensity with which the immigration actions have been undertaken – in an expanding list of cities across the US – has led to protests and calls from Democratic officials for greater oversight, accountability and restraint among law enforcement agents.
The fatal Minneapolis shooting has already given these efforts new urgency among their advocates.
