What to know about the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Protesters confronted federal officers Thursday in Minneapolis the day after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
The demonstrations came amid heightened tensions after President Donald Trump’s administration dispatched 2,000 officers and agents to Minnesota for its latest immigration crackdown.
The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday set off a clash between federal officials who insist the shooting was an act of self-defense and Minneapolis officials who dispute that narrative.
Here’s what is known about the shooting:
How it unfolded
The woman was shot in her car in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos taken by bystanders and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped in the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.
The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer. The SUV then speeds into two cars parked on a curb nearby before coming to a stop. Witnesses can be heard shouting in shock.
Victim was a ‘wife and mom’
Good died of gunshot wounds to the head.
She described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom” from Colorado. Calls and messages to her family were not immediately returned.
Public records show Good had recently lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where she and another woman with the same home address had started a business last year called B. Good Handywork.
In a video posted from the scene on social media, a woman who describes Good as her wife is seen sitting near the vehicle sobbing. She says the couple had only recently arrived in Minnesota and they have a 6-year-old child.
Her killing is at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown the Trump administration launched last year.
Noem says officer followed training
The ICE officer has not been publicly identified. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described him only as an experienced officer. She said the officer was hit by the vehicle during Wednesday’s shooting and taken to a hospital. He has since been discharged.
“Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he’s been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers,” Noem said.
Noem said officers were trying to push a vehicle out of the snow when protesters confronted them. She said the woman was blocking officers with her vehicle and refused to heed their commands before trying to run over one of them.
“This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism,” Noem said.
Local leaders dispute narrative
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone when he described the shooting to reporters.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s description of the events “garbage,” saying he had watched videos of the shooting that show it wasn’t self-defense and was avoidable.
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Meanwhile, the head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday that federal prosecutors have barred the state agency from taking part in investigating the shooting.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said his agency had planned a joint investigation with the FBI but was later told that state investigators would have no access to evidence, witness interviews and other case materials. As a result, Evans said, the BCA has “reluctantly withdrawn” from the shooting investigation.
Protest met with pepper spray, tear gas
Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis federal building being used a base for the immigration crackdown. Border Patrol officers fired tear gas and doused demonstrators with pepper spray to push them back from the gate.
Area schools were closed as a safety precaution as Gov. Tim Walz pleaded for calm.
A vigil Wednesday night for the victim drew hundreds of people. A march through the city concluded without violence.
