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LAST UPDATE | 15 hrs ago
THE US CITY of Minneapolis is on edge after the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer taking part in the US government’s latest immigration crackdown.
The Governor of the state of Minnesota has called for people to remain calm and schools have cancelled classes and activities as a safety precaution.
Tim Walz has also said Minnesota “must be a part” of the investigation into the incident, after state investigators said they had been barred from taking part as a result of the FBI taking over the probe.
Protesters clashed with federal officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas in Minneapolis today, with people chanting slogans attacking ICE as officers detained several of them, including one who struck an agent with a cardboard sign.
The woman has been identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old US citizen. She was a mother of three who had recently moved to the city.
City officials said she was not the target of any arrest and had been acting as a legal observer during federal immigration activity in the area.
The shooting happened yesterday morning in south Minneapolis.
Video footage of the incident, widely shared on social media, shows federal agents surrounding a vehicle before at least two shots are fired through the windscreen as the car attempts to move away.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an ICE officer opened fire after the driver supposedly “weaponised her vehicle” and attempted to run over officers, describing the incident as an act of “domestic terrorism”.
However, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had viewed video of the incident and rejected the federal account, calling it “bullshit”.
“This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying,” Frey said at an emotional press conference, adding that Good was not using her car as a weapon.
Frey later told ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis”.
Tim Walz also disputed the federal narrative, describing the killing as “preventable” and “unnecessary”, and warning the public not to believe “this propaganda machine”.
Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman, said the victim was “a legal observer” of action by ICE, which had sent a surge of agents into the city in recent days tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
President Donald Trump defended the officer, saying on social media that the agent acted in self-defence after being “viciously” run over.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem echoed that claim, saying deadly force was justified and confirming the officer involved had previously been injured in a separate incident earlier this year.
Local police said preliminary information indicates Good was sitting in her car blocking a roadway when a federal agent approached on foot.
At least two shots were fired, after which the vehicle crashed into a parked car. She was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds to the head and later died.
The FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) had both been investigating the shooting.
However, in a statement this evening, the head of the BCA said that the US attorney’s office had barred it from taking part in the investigation.
Drew Evans said that after the agency consulted with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the US attorney’s office and the FBI following the shooting, it was decided that the BCA Force Investigations Unit would conduct a joint investigation with the FBI. But he said the FBI later informed the BCA that the US attorney’s office had changed the plan.
“The investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation,” Evans wrote.
Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands.
“As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation. The BCA Force Investigations Unit was designed to ensure consistency, accountability and public confidence, none of which can be achieved without full co-operation and jurisdictional clarity,” he wrote.
Tim Walz said the BCA were “attempting to get that accountability.
“We have learned that the Trump administration has now denied the state that ability to participate in the investigation,” he said.
He said Minnesota “must be a part of this investigation, adding: “It feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation. It feels very difficult that we will get a fair outcome.”
The killing comes amid a major escalation in federal immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities, with up to 2,000 ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents deployed to the Minneapolis area in recent days.
The Trump administration has cited alleged welfare and childcare fraud, particularly involving Somali-run centres, as justification for the operation.
The deployment has fuelled tensions between federal authorities and local officials, who say the presence of ICE is destabilising communities rather than improving public safety.
Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil last night, while protest organisers have called for further demonstrations, including a “nonviolent emergency protest” this morning near the Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, which has served as a command centre for federal agents.
Minnesota Public Schools cancelled classes for the rest of the week, citing safety concerns, as law enforcement used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse some protesters.
Good’s former neighbour, Joan Rose, told local media she was “devastated” by the killing, describing Good as a mother who had been politically engaged and concerned about the direction of the country.
“She was caring for her neighbours,” Minneapolis City Council said in a statement.
“There is nothing to indicate she was the subject of any law enforcement investigation.”
Governor Walz said the National Guard has been placed on standby but urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
“The desire to speak up is a patriotic duty,” he said.
“But we can’t give them the show they want.”
An anti-ICE noise protest, involving loudspeakers and a drummer, was held outside the Canopy Hilton Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, where a number of ICE agents were staying.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eKfmA-mutjk
The hotel had previously been accused of cancelling reservations made by ICE agents.
In North Carolina, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) has organised rallies in both Durham and Fayetteville, with events in each city scheduled to begin at 6pm, according to local media reports.
In New York City, more demonstrations are expected later today after protesters gathered at Foley Square on Wednesday and marched to 26 Federal Plaza, a federal building that houses homeland security offices.
Protests have also been flagged on social media in cities including Houston, San Diego and parts of Utah.
With reporting from PA
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