An FBI investigation is underway after an ICE officer fatally shot a woman in southern Minneapolis on Wednesday, in an incident characterized very differently by local and federal officials.
US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis
Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot behind the wheel of an SUV near the intersection of 34th Street and Portland Avenue just before 10:30 a.m. CT. U.S. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both described the woman as an agitator who had been interfering with ICE agents on scene.
Noem, a central figure in Trump’s immigration crackdown, said Good ignored officers’ orders to get out of her vehicle and “weaponized” the SUV by deliberately trying to ram into the officer. She said the agent shot the driver three times in self-defence.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said video directly contradicts the administration’s story, which he described as “bullshit,” before saying ICE needs to get “the f–k” out of the city. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Good’s death was the “predictable” result of the White House’s “recklessness” in deploying federal officers and troops to Democratic cities. Walz urged anyone protesting Good’s death to remain peaceful and said the state would “stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice” in the shooting.
Thousands of people lined the street near the scene as night fell.
● At least 4 others killed during immigration operations
Wednesday’s fatal shooting is at least the fifth death resulting from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in several U.S. cities, according to The Associated Press.
Those deaths include 38-year-old line cook Silverio Villegas González, from Mexico, who was shot and killed by ICE agents during a traffic stop outside Chicago last September.
The other three people known to have died were all attempting to flee immigration authorities.
Last August, a man identified as 52-year-old Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, from Guatemala, was running from immigration officers in southern California when he was fatally struck by an SUV when he tried to cross a freeway.
Also in southern California, last July, Mexican farm worker Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck while fleeing ICE officers who were rounding up workers. The 57-year-old died in hospital two days later.
And last October, 24-year-old Castro Rivera, from Honduras, was fatally struck by a pickup truck in Virginia as he tried to escape authorities.
● What we know about Renee Good
The shooting happened during the Department of Homeland Security’s latest immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which is tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
Trump has repeatedly accused Somalis of stealing billions of dollars from Minnesota, and lashed out against Somali immigrants in December calling them “garbage” and saying they “contribute nothing” to the country.
The U.S. president made his comments shortly after reports emerged that federal authorities were preparing a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota focusing on Somalis living illegally in the U.S., according to a person familiar with the planning.
This left many people in Minnesota’s Somali community on edge. Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S., at roughly 80,000 people, and most are American citizens.
In the first two weeks of the DHS’s Operation Surge, which launched on Dec. 1, the department reported it had arrested more than 400 people from different backgrounds, including some Somalis.
Among those taken into custody was a 20-year-old American-born Somali man in Minneapolis, whose arrest was condemned by the city’s mayor and the head of the city’s police.
● What we know about Renee Good
Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was killed today, described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom” originally from Colorado but “experiencing Minnesota.”
She was previously married to a man with whom she had a child.
The boy’s grandfather, Timmy Ray Macklin Sr., told the Minnesota Star Tribune that his son and Good had a child together who is now six years old.
Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, told the newspaper that her daughter was “probably terrified” at the time she was shot.
Asked about accounts that protesters were challenging ICE officers, Ganger said her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all.”
● Hundreds of people are still at the scene
A large group of protesters have gathered near the scene of the shooting at 34th Street and Portland Avenue. An aerial view shows people have filled the street across multiple blocks.
●Minneapolis councillors demand ICE leaves city
The majority of Minneapolis city council are calling for the arrest and prosecution of the ICE agent responsible for Renee Good’s death.
“Anyone who kills someone in our city deserves to be arrested, investigated, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” 11 of the council’s 13 members wrote in a statement posted to X.
They said Minneapolis is resilient and they are united in their support of the city’s immigrant community, and committed to doing everything possible with their state partners to keep people safe.
“We demand that ICE immediately leave our city so we can get rid of their chaos and violence,” the statement added.
“Now is the time to reach out and support your immigrant neighbours,” they wrote. [cbc.ca]
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