ICE Shoots and Kills Woman in Minneapolis

Amid heightened tensions nationwide over the way ICE has been deporting noncitizens and citizens alike, another bombshell dropped on the American public. On Wednesday,  January 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a wife and mother of three, in Minneapolis. Let’s go over the full situation and aftermath.

The day before, the Department of Homeland Security stated that they would send nearly 2000 more Homeland Security agents to Minneapolis, primarily due to allegations of daycare fraud by the local Somali population. Minneapolis officials had previously objected to ICE deployment before the shooting. This was due to Governor Tim Walz criticizing the agency, saying the “state is under assault” after ICE agents conducted raids at a local high school using pepper spray, amongst other raids in the area. Hence, the situation was already tense.

On the morning of January 7, Renee Good — a U.S. citizen who had recently moved to Minneapolis — was driving home after dropping her son off at school when her ex-husband said she was confronted by a group of ICE agents. According to released footage, ICE agents could be seen tugging on Good’s door telling her to stop and get out; however, an eyewitness said the agents could also be heard telling her to drive off. While Good did attempt to drive off to the right after waving the officers ahead, ICE agent Jonathan Ross was standing in front and slightly to the left of her car. It is a point of contention as to whether Ross was actually being threatened by Good's movements, but a few seconds after accelerating, Good was shot three times by Ross in the head. After reports of ICE agents refusing to let a physician render medical aid to Good, she later succumbed to her injuries. 

After the shooting, the backlash was evident and enormous. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, accused Good of trying to run over Ross, who Ross said he shot in self-defense. Mayor Jacob Frey called a press conference and lambasted ICE operations in the city, rejected DHS’s claims of self-defense, and called for ICE to “get the f–k out of Minneapolis.” President Trump and Vice President Vance denounced the “radical Left,” while saying Good was obstructing ICE’s legal operations in the area and engaging in an act of domestic terrorism. Minneapolis public schools cancelled classes out of fear for students after the aforementioned school raids. Governor Walz announced that he would start preparing the Minnesota National Guard to protect the state from ICE agents. This move could further the rift between Walz and the administration, considering the administration has previously federalized local National Guards without prior consent and has already criticized Walz for widespread fraud scandals sweeping the state.

The tragedy has ignited a fiery debate about the ethicality of ICE’s tactics and the controversy over ICE. Most Republicans generally characterized the shooting as self-defense, as they alleged that Good tried to attack the agent with her car. Most Democrats typically condemned the shooting, which they said was unwarranted given the footage showing that Good was driving in the opposite direction from Ross. They are calling for ICE to leave the city, and calling the incident a tragedy that was directly caused by the harsh tactics of ICE agents nationwide. Analysts believe that in terms of legal charges, the state could bring up homicide charges against the agents, but nothing is known yet until further investigations take place. These investigations have already been the result of backlash, as the FBI has controversially blocked state officials from obtaining evidence while taking full control of the investigation.

Overall, we must wait and see how these investigations unfold. Controversy is almost expected to keep ensuing about ICE operations in the state, and due to this shooting, backlash has grown even further.

Read More:

• Ray Sanchez, CNN

• Ben Garvin, et al., New York Times

• Eric Henderson, Riley Moser, CBS News