Jan. 7 (UPI) — A federal officer fatally shot a woman that Immigration and Customs Enforcement said was trying to run over an agent Wednesday, though Minneapolis police reported she was attempting to drive away from the scene of protests.
The deadly incident occurred at East 34th Street and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis when protesters allegedly tried to block an ICE vehicle and stop it from leaving the area.
The 37-year-old woman’s mother identified her as Renee Nicole Good, and local media described her as a “constitutional observer.”
ICE has accused Good of trying to use her SUV to run over an ICE officer, who fired two shots at her, one of which struck her in the head and killed her, KMSP-TV reported.
President Donald Trump posted a video of the encounter that appears to show an SUV running into an ICE officer and the sound of gunshots, followed by the SUV crossing the road and slowing to a stop.
“It is a horrible thing to watch,” Trump said. “The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.”
The president said the officer was hospitalized and recovering from his injuries.
“The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the radical left is threatening, assaulting and targeting our law enforcement officers and ICE agents on a daily basis,” Trump said.
“They are just trying to do the job of making America safe,” he added. “We need to stand by and protect our law enforcement officers from this radical-left movement of violence and hate!”
Trump’s description of the incident has been called into question as a second video of the incident that was shared widely online appears to show an ICE agent reach into the opened driver’s side window of the parked vehicle and attempt to open the door.
Good then attempts to drive away. An agent in front of the vehicle is seen pulling out his service weapon and firing into the front windshield.
“Everything the Trump administration is saying about the IC shooting in Minneapolis is a LIE,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement.
“The woman did NOT ‘weaponize her vehicle.’ She did NOT ‘attempt to run over law enforcement officers.’ She was trying to drive away from the scene. ICE shot and killed her.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., accused ICE of murder.
“This is not self-defense. This is murder,” he said in a statement posted to X that included the second angle of the shooting in argument against the Trump administration’s account of the event.
Local media reported protesters allegedly began throwing snowballs and possibly other items at one or more ICE vehicles before the shooting, which prompted the ICE officers to deploy chemical munitions to deter and disperse the crowd, KARE-TV in Minneapolis reported.
Protesters also tried to block an ICE caravan from leaving when the woman allegedly drove at the ICE officers and was killed.
Local police described the driver as a “middle-aged white woman” and said she was blocking a road on which the ICE officers were located.
One of the officers tried to approach her vehicle, and she was trying to drive away when an officer shot and killed her, Minneapolis police said, which runs counter to the president’s account and the video shown.
ICE officials released a statement saying: “Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism.
“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers.
“The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. Thankfully, the ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.”
Local police cordoned off the scene and were investigating the shooting, along with the FBI. Wednesday’s violence occurred during a surge in immigration enforcement amid reports of fraud in the greater Minneapolis area.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was briefed on the matter and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism.”
Noem said the ICE officers had become stuck in snow and were trying to remove their vehicles when the protesters interfered and one tried to use a vehicle to try to kill an officer and his colleagues.
In a Thursday night press conference, Noem accused the driver of having “weaponized her vehicle” and of committing “an act of terrorism.”
Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., announced that she will be filing articles of impeachment against Noem for obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust and self-dealing.
“She has turned ICE into a rogue force, violating the Constitution, tearing families apart and leaving death in her wake,” she said in a statement.
“From Chicago to Minneapolis, her recklessness cost lives, including Renee Nicole Good. This isn’t just dangerous — it’s impeachable.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blamed ICE for the deadly incident and said it should not have happened.
“We dreaded this moment since the early stages of the ICE presence in Minneapolis,” Frey told reporters.
“They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” he said
“They are ripping families apart … and quite literally killing people,” Frey continued. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in someone dying — getting killed.”
Frey said there were dozens, if not hundreds, of ICE and federal officers at the scene, and he said they need to leave Minneapolis.
“We do not want you here,” Frey said to ICE during a news conference. “People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart.”
He said ICE is targeting longtime residents who have lived and worked in the city for many years.
“We all know that the agenda of this Trump administration is to create chaos. Let us all rise above this moment,” Frey said. “We are going to meet that hate with love.”
He said Minneapolis will not “take the bait” and give the Trump administration an excuse to militarily take over the city.
“Let’s show them unity of purpose, of love and of conviction,” Frey added. “It is rock-solid and for all of our neighbors.”
