THOUSANDS hit the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday as protests continued over the killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration officer and the shooting of two people in Portland, Oregon. 

The protest was one of hundreds held in towns and cities across the country over the weekend, including in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Ms Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officer.

Meghan Moore, from Minneapolis, who joined the protest, said: “We’re all living in fear right now.

“Ice is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”

The US Department of Homeland Security claims its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest-ever immigration enforcement operation. 

President Donald Trump’s administration has said both shooting incidents were acts of self-defence against drivers who “weaponised” their vehicles to attack officers.

Extensive video evidence of the killing of Ms Good contradicts Mr Trump’s accusation.

Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he’s frustrated with the immigration crackdown.

“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”

He and other protesters, including children, braved subfreezing temperatures and a light dusting of snow, carrying handmade signs declaring, “De-Ice Minnesota!” and “Ice melts in Minnesota.”

They marched down a street that is home to restaurants and stores where various nationalities and cultures are celebrated in colourful murals.

Barbara Jensen, who lives a short distance from where Ms Good was killed, told the Morning Star she was “proud of my city for not pretending this didn’t just happen!”

Steven Eubanks, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, because of the “horrifying” killing in Minneapolis.

He said: “We have to stand up.”

In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organised the demonstration that began about half a mile from the residential neighbourhood where Ms Good was shot on Wednesday.

But the large protest apparently did not deter federal officers from operating in the city.

A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, heavily armed officers approached a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”

The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.