US: ICE Killing in Minneapolis Sparks Mass Outrage

On January 7, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a woman in the head in a residential neighborhood in south Minneapolis, firing into her vehicle at point-blank range. The woman was later identified by authorities as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

A neighbor who saw what happened told local MPR news: “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun … and shot her in the face like three, four times.”

Witnesses said she died immediately.

Within hours, federal officials presented a starkly different account from what eyewitnesses reported.

In a tweet on his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump accused Good of “violently, willfully, and viciously” running over an ICE agent with her vehicle. The agent then “shot her in self-defense,” he claimed. US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the 37-year-old woman was killed after carrying out an alleged “act of domestic terrorism”. 

“A woman attacked [ICE], and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over,” she said on Fox News, adding that the “officer acted defensively” when he shot the woman in her vehicle.

The fatal shooting comes a day after the Trump administration launched what it calls “the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever in Minneapolis-St.Paul.” About 2,000 DHS, ICE, and related personnel flooded the city on Jan 6. 

Videos and eyewitnesses debunk Trump administration narrative

Reports from witnesses and local elected officials sharply dispute the Trump administration’s account of the incident. Witnesses on the scene say the woman’s car was blocking ICE, and ICE told them to move, and they shot her in her vehicle as she was driving away, as reported by BreakThrough News. 

CBS News reported that witnesses saw a Honda Pilot blocked by multiple ICE agents. “An agent tried to open the driver’s side door. The motorist then put her vehicle into reverse, then into drive. Witnesses said they then heard three shots fired.” The car then crashed into a parked vehicle before stopping.

Videos circulating on social media seem to verify eyewitness reports of the killing.

The Minneapolis Police Chief’s statement underscored that Good was not the subject of any ICE operation, contrasting with federal claims that framed the killing as a response to a targeted threat.

Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the ICE operation and rejected the self-defense narrative of the federal government after watching video footage. During a news conference, Frey had choice words for the agency: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis,” the mayor said. “We do not want you here.”

Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez, and Representative Ilhan Omar, have all identified the victim as a legal observer who was watching the ICE operation from her car.

“Terror” label turned back on Trump and ICE

As the administration framed the killing as a response to “domestic terrorism”. Lawmakers, activists, and journalists have inverted that language, condemning ICE itself as a terrorizing organization.

Rep Omar denounced the agency in a Facebook post after the incident: “ICE must stop terrorizing our communities and leave our city.

“They are the terrorists,” tweeted Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek, responding to the Trump administration’s claims. “They invade and bomb countries unprovoked, kidnap heads of states, murder their own people and then cry victim.”

The Party for Socialism and Liberation called the incident “cold-blooded murder” in a social media post on January 7, demanding justice for Renee and “an end to ICE’s reign of terror across the country”.

Disputed fraud allegations target Somali community

Officials have cited an alleged fraud scheme as the justification for the militarized operation that flooded Minneapolis with ICE agents in the first place. 

The accusations involve daycare centers and other social services run by members of the Somali community.

While a 2025 case involving the Feeding our Future program did result in several convictions, many prominent voices in the community have argued that the broader, more recent narrative has been distorted for political ends.

Much of the recent controversy seems to center around a widely-debunked viral video by far-right YouTube influencer Nick Shirley, in which he claimed to expose a USD 100 million fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in the area. JD Vance applauded the video, tweeting that Shirley deserved a Pulitzer prize. Local news outlets and state regulators, on the other hand, refuted his claims and most of the featured daycare centers were found to be operating legally with active licenses.

Protests loom as anger spreads across Minneapolis and other cities

Although Governor Walz challenged the federal narrative, he has also alerted the Minnesota National Guard, putting about 13,000 members on notice to deploy to the streets and confront mass protests, which are being called in the city and other areas in the country as anger mounts in response to the ICE killing. 

Minneapolis has a recent history of mass protest against state violence, being the city that launched a global movement after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The ICE killing on January 7 adds a federal dimension to that legacy. It may now prove to be a catalyst for renewed mobilizations against militarized immigration operations, state violence, and federal overreach.

Courtesy Peoples Dispatch