Who is the Jewish mayor of Minneapolis who called the ICE ‘self-defence’ claim ‘bulls**t’?

Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement after the shooting: "We collectively are going to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this, to get justice and to make sure that there is an investigation conducted in full - but what we do know is that a 37-year-old woman is dead, and she was shot by ICE.

"We’ve dreaded this moment since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis… They are not here to create safety in this city, what they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They are ripping families apart, sowing chaos in our streets, and in this case are literally killing people.

"They are already trying to spin this as an act of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly – that is bulls**t.

"This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody getting killed. Your only reason for being in our city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing the opposite."

He continued: "We are better than a bunch of agents being deployed to rip apart families and communities – we're better than that. We are going to meet that hate, with love… In this moment, we will not take the bait that ICE agents are trying to create. They want us to respond in a way that creates a military occupation. They want an excuse to come in and show the kind of force that will create more chaos. Let's not let them."

Frey, who took office in 2018, was born in Arlington County, Virginia, into a Jewish family. His mother is of Ashkenazi ancestry and his father converted. He grew up in a Reform household and attends both Temple Israel Reform Synagogue in Minneapolis as well as the Reform Shir Tikvah synagogue with his wife, who converted.

Frey is very open about his Jewishness and has said, as reported by the Times of Israel, that his political career has been influenced by the Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam” - meaning “repairing the world”.

Frey told Jewish Insider that even though he was already practising, he began embracing his Jewish identity to an even greater extent after October 7.

“My ethnicity has risen greatly over the last year in the way that I think of myself and how others think of me,” he said.

“There was a moment where I thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, there are all these people coming out against Jews, should I not be as out in front? Should I not be as vocal about my identity as a Jew?’ And as soon as I thought that it was almost a slap in the face: ‘No, I have to be more out front. I have to be more vocal’.”

Since October 7 and the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war, he has condemned Hamas, whilst also criticising Israel for its "excessive bombing" of Gaza and called for a ceasefire, whilst vetoing a move for the city to recognise a Palestinian state.