WASHINGTON: Federal officers in Minneapolis will be equipped with body cameras following the fatal shootings of two protesters by US immigration agents, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday (Feb 2).
The move from DHS Secretary Krisi Noem comes as Democrats call for this equipment change and other reforms to immigration enforcement, holding up federal funds to press their demands.
The US government is in a partial shutdown following a breakdown in spending negotiations amid Democratic anger over the killing of the two protesters, both citizens, in the Midwestern city.
“Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis,” Noem said on X.
She added that “as funding is available, the body camera programme will be expanded nationwide”.
Three days into the shutdown, Democrats in the House want changes to the way DHS conducts its immigration sweeps – with heavily armed, masked and unidentified agents who sometimes detain people without warrants – before voting on a spending package.
Body cameras are part of their demands, as are banning masks and requiring judicial warrants be obtained prior to arrests and detentions.
Immigration agents shot and killed US citizens Renee Good on Jan 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan 24 as protests rocked the city, which President Donald Trump is targeting in a wide-ranging immigration detention and deportation crackdown.