Thousands Gather to Mourn The Woman Killed by ICE
 |
Federal and local officials dispute the circumstances that led an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to fatally shoot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
President Trump and other members of his administration characterized the ICE agent's actions as an act of self-defense. State and local leaders, however, cast doubt on that account and called for a full and fair investigation.
The shooting occurred on a residential street in south Minneapolis — less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. ICE agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations at the time, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
NPR and MPR have reviewed multiple videos of the shooting taken from different vantage points and posted to social media. The footage shows multiple officers near an SUV stopped in the middle of the road. One officer demands the driver exit the vehicle and grabs the car handle. The SUV reverses, then begins to drive forward, which is when a different officer near the front of the car pulls his weapon and fires into the vehicle. Three gunshots are heard, as the firing officer backs away from the SUV. Moments later, the vehicle crashes.
 |
Ben Hovland/MPRNPR |
The Minneapolis City Council identified the woman as Renee Nicole Good.
"Renee was a resident of our city who was out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government," the city council said in a statement. NPR member station MPR News has reached out to a family member of the woman.
On Wednesday night, large crowds of people filled the street at a vigil in south Minneapolis to mourn Good's death. Many held up posters criticizing ICE's presence in the city, while others carried signs that read "remember." Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, was one of many speakers who paid tribute to Good at the vigil, MPR News reported.
"She did not deserve to be gunned down in cold blood for standing up for her neighbor," Armstrong said.
At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the use of force by an ICE agent, while calling the motorist's actions "an act of domestic terrorism."
According to Noem, ICE officials that morning were helping push one of their vehicles out of the snow when protesters appeared. Noem said the woman who was fatally shot blocked federal officers with her vehicle and refused to exit her car when officers ordered her to do so.
She added that the ICE officer who fired his gun had been struck by the car and was taken to a hospital, where he was later released.
"It's clearly established law that a vehicle driven by a person and used to harm someone is a deadly weapon," she said. "Deadly force is perfectly lawful when a threat is faced by a weapon, so I do believe that this officer used his training in this situation." Members of law enforcement photograph a vehicle suspected to be involved in a shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
 |
Noem said she also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and acknowledged that they hold "very different viewpoints" on the shooting.
The incident has worsened tensions between the Trump administration and Minneapolis, which has been the target of a large-scale immigration crackdown. Local officials said they expect protests to follow and urged residents to remain peaceful.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Walz said he was prepared to mobilize the state National Guard if necessary.
"They want a show. We can't give it to them," he said. "We can't give them what they want."
Federal and local officials clash over the shooting
In a statement, DHS spokesperson McLaughlin asserted that the motorist "weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them." She added that the ICE officer who pulled the trigger was "fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public."
Upon reviewing a video of the incident, President Trump said he also believes the shooting was an act of self-defense.
This statement is all made up. If you watch the video you know this guy shot her once through the windshield and several times when he stuck the weapon by the open window and shot several times again more. One mortal or disabling shot through the windshield was maybe not enough. Let me get the gun through the open window and keep shooting. What sort of gun happy animal is this?? (adamfoxie)
"The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Comments