The US is sending ICE agents to the Winter Olympics, which is angering the Italian government.

The US immigration agency, whose officers have been involved in two deadly shootings in Minneapolis, has said it is sending agents to assist in US security operations during the Winter Olympics, which begin in Italy on February 6.

The agency’s role was confirmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sparking concern and anger in Italy after the report.

“This is a militia that kills… Of course they are not welcome in Milan,” the city’s mayor, Beppe Sala, told Italian radio on Tuesday.

An ICE spokesperson stressed that “all security operations remain under Italian authority”.

Sources at the US Embassy in Rome.

Sources at the US Embassy in Rome had previously told Italian media that various federal agencies had worked at previous Games, although it was not clear whether the Customs and Enforcement agency itself had participated.

“ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nations to identify and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations,” the agency’s statement Tuesday said.

It said it would “explicitly” not conduct immigration enforcement operations outside the US.

The statement was given to news agency AFP, and embassy sources confirmed it to The Associated Press. The BBC has also contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, initially appeared unaware that US immigration officials would come to the Milan-Cortina Olympics and said that even if they came, foreign delegations could choose their own security, saying, “I don’t understand what the problem is, and it’s very normal.”

But as shock over the images coming out of Minneapolis grew, so did outrage in Italy that officers from the same US federal agency could be seen on Italian streets.

After Alex Preti was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal agents on Saturday morning, two journalists from Italian public broadcaster Rai were threatened by ICE officers as the journalists drove through the city to cover the agency’s actions.

Rai TV reported that an agent warned the crew that if they continued filming the agents, their car window would be broken.

Attilio Fontana, the governor of the Lombardy region, tried to calm the situation by suggesting that ICE agents be deployed to Italy to protect US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Political opponents of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, such as Five Star Senator Barbara Floridia, warned that the government’s continued silence on the issue would “provide further evidence of cowardice and subservience to Donald Trump”.

The interior minister has since taken a tougher stance, saying on Monday that “ICE will definitely not operate on Italian national territory”.

The US did not send a list of security personnel, and the security was guaranteed by the Italian state, he said.

The centre-left mayor of Milan was not impressed.

“I believe [ICE agents] should not come to Italy because they do not guarantee that they are in line with our democratic way of ensuring security,” Beppe Sala told RTL radio.