The fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday sparked outrage across the country, with federal and local officials offering wildly differing accounts of the deadly encounter, which came one day after ICE agents descended on the city as part of the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the woman, identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three, attempted to “run over” the officer. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem referred to the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Witnesses and local officials vehemently rejected that narrative. “I’ve seen the video,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X. “Don’t believe this propaganda machine.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the official account “bulls***,” accused the agent of “recklessly” abusing his power and called for ICE to “get the f*** out” of his city.
The shooting stirred protests in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, with more planned for Thursday. Walz called on demonstrators to protest peacefully.
“To Minnesotans I say this: I feel your anger. I’m angry,” Walz said. “They want a show. We can’t give it to them. We cannot. If you protest and express your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully as you always do. We can’t give them what they want.”
Speaking at a news conference in New York City on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continued to defend the use of deadly force by an ICE agent in the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, claiming that Good had followed and “harassed” officers “all day.”
“These individuals had followed our officers all day, had harassed them, had blocked them,” Noem said. “They were impeding our law enforcement operations, which is against the law.”
When pressed, Noem declined to elaborate on the events leading up to the shooting, saying only that DHS would be releasing “more details” in the coming days.
Noem went on to repeat her allegation that Good committed an “act of domestic terrorism” despite videos and eyewitness accounts that show Good’s car turning away from the federal officer who opened fire.
The agent who shot Good “acted according to his training,” Noem said, adding that she expected her department’s policies of review for deadly force incidents to show that he responded “appropriately.”
Asked whether DHS would be sending more federal agents to Minneapolis in the wake of the shooting, Noem did not rule it out. “We have thousands of officers there,” she said, “and I’m not opposed to sending more, if necessary, to keep people safe.”
Noem went on to repeat her allegation that Good committed an “act of domestic terrorism” despite videos and eyewitness accounts that show Good’s car turning away from the federal officer who opened fire.
The agent who shot Good “acted according to his training,” Noem said, adding that she expected her department’s policies of review for deadly force incidents to show that he responded “appropriately.”
Asked whether DHS would be sending more federal agents to Minneapolis in the wake of the shooting, Noem did not rule it out. “We have thousands of officers there,” she said, “and I’m not opposed to sending more, if necessary, to keep people safe.”
