US federal agent shoots woman in Chicago hours after court blocks Trump’s troop order

A federal agent shot a motorist in Chicago on Saturday, just hours after a judge blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to deploy military troops in Portland, Oregon. This happened amid an increasingly tense stand-off between Washington and Democratic-run cities. Both incidents come amid the Trump administration’s hardline law-and-order push, marked by mass deportation raids and heavily armed operations in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington. The White House insists these measures are necessary to combat rising crime. Critics, however, say they’re politically driven displays of force.

US federal agent shoots motorist: What happened?

On Saturday (Oct 4) morning, a motorist was shot after agents were "boxed in by 10 cars," said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The driver allegedly rammed her vehicle into the law enforcement vehicle, forcing agents to exit their car. DHS official Tricia McLaughlin said the driver, armed with a semi-automatic weapon, was shot as “Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen.”

The unidentified motorist reportedly "drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds." DHS accused Chicago police of "leaving the shooting scene," with officers refusing "to assist us in securing the area." Chicago police, however, told Fox 32 they had responded but were not involved in the federal operation or its investigation. "Federal authorities are investigating this shooting."

Judge blocks Trump’s Portland troop order

In her ruling, US District Judge Karin Immergut rejected Trump’s claim that the situation in Portland amounted to a “rebellion,” requiring federal troops. “Defendants presented evidence of sporadic violence against federal officers and property damage to a federal building,” she wrote, adding that they failed to demonstrate that “those episodes of violence were part of an organised attempt to overthrow the government as a whole.”

Immergut said regular law enforcement was capable of handling unrest in the city, calling the administration’s justification “untethered to the facts.”

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden praised the decision, saying it confirmed what residents already believed: “We don't need or want Donald Trump to provoke violence by deploying federal troops in our state.”

In Illinois, tensions escalated further after Governor JB Pritzker accused Washington of trying to override his authority. “The Trump administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said on X. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.”