MINNEAPOLIS--A U.S. immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday amid an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violent incident during President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on migrants.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey adamantly rejected the Trump administration's assertion that the agent fired in self-defense, saying video of the shooting directly contradicted what he called the government's "garbage narrative."
"They're already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense," a visibly angry Frey said at a press conference. "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly - that is bullshit."
Frey blamed federal immigration agents for sowing chaos in the city, telling ICE: "Get the fuck out of Minneapolis." But he also urged residents to remain calm.
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters into the streets near the scene, some of whom were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants.Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on X that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer began firing after a "violent rioter" attempted to run over ICE officers in an "act of domestic terrorism." The agent, the statement asserted, saved multiple lives.
"The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased," she wrote. "The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries."
Videos of the shooting posted on social media and verified by Reuters raised doubts about the government's account. One widely shared video shows a maroon Honda SUV partially blocking a road. As the clip begins, the driver inches forward before stopping to let another car drive past.
The driver, with the window down, then appears to gesture to an approaching pickup truck to go ahead as well. Instead, the truck stops, and two officers exit and approach the vehicle on foot. As one of the agents orders the driver out of the SUV and grabs at the door handle, the vehicle reverses briefly, and a third agent comes around to the front of the car from the passenger side.
The driver then goes forward, turning the wheels to the right in what appears to be an effort to head up the street away from the officers. The agent in front of the car pulls his weapon, steps back and fires, with the left front bumper coming close to his legs.
He fires three shots, with at least one shot after the car's front bumper has already passed him. It was not clear from the video whether the car made contact with the officer, who stayed on his feet throughout the encounter.
After the shots are fired, the car accelerates up the street and crashes into parked cars and a utility pole.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported the woman's name was Renee Nicole Good, citing her mother, who described her daughter as "extremely compassionate" and said she was not the type to confront ICE agents. Good lived with her partner in the Twin Cities, as Minneapolis and nearby St. Paul are known.
"She's taken care of people all her life," her mother, Donna Ganger, told the newspaper. "She was loving, forgiving and affectionate."
Democratic Governor Tim Walz also rejected the federal government's account and placed the blame for the shooting on the Trump administration. He told a press conference that he had put the National Guard on alert for possible deployment.
"What we are seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict," Walz said. "It's governing by reality TV. And today that recklessness cost someone their life."
In a social media post, Trump said the video showed the woman "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense."
His comments echoed earlier remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who accused the woman of deliberately attempting to ram agents.
