MINNEAPOLIS — Protesters confronted federal officers Thursday in Minneapolis the day after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
The demonstrations came amid heightened tensions after President Donald Trump’s administration dispatched 2,000 officers and agents to Minnesota for its latest immigration crackdown.
The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday set off a clash between federal and state officials over whether the shooting appeared justified and whether a Minnesota law enforcement agency had jurisdiction to investigate.
Here’s what is known about the shooting:
How it unfolded
The woman was shot in her car in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos taken by bystanders and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped in the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.
The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer. The SUV then speeds into two cars parked on a curb nearby before coming to a stop. Witnesses can be heard shouting in shock.
Victim was a ‘wife and mom’
Good died of gunshot wounds to the head.
She described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom” from Colorado. Calls and messages to her family were not immediately returned.
Public records show Good had recently lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where she and another woman with the same home address had started a business last year called B. Good Handywork.
In a video posted from the scene on social media, a woman who describes Good as her wife is seen sitting near the vehicle sobbing. She says the couple had only recently arrived in Minnesota and they have a 6-year-old child.
Minneapolis protesters vent their outrage after an ICE officer kills a woman
Her killing is at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown the Trump administration launched last year.
Noem says officer followed training
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday in New York that there would be a federal investigation into the shooting, adding that she believes the officer followed his training and the shooting was justified. She again called the woman’s actions “domestic terrorism.”
“This vehicle was used to hit this officer,” Noem said. “It was used as a weapon, and the officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy.”
Woman killed by ICE agent in Minneapolis was a mother of 3, poet and new to the city
The ICE officer has not been publicly identified. Noem said he was taken to a hospital after being hit by the vehicle and has since been discharged.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone when he described the shooting to reporters Wednesday.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s description of the events “garbage,” saying he had watched videos of the shooting that show it wasn’t self-defense and was avoidable.
Federal and state leaders dispute jurisdiction to investigate
Drew Evans, head of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Thursday that federal prosecutors have barred the state agency from jointly investigating the shooting alongside the FBI. He said state investigators were being denied access to evidence, witness interviews and other case materials.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz demanded that state investigators be given a role, telling reporters that residents would otherwise have a hard time accepting the findings of federal law enforcement.
“And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem,” Walz said.
Noem denied that Minnesota authorities were being shut out, saying: “They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”
Protest met with pepper spray, tear gas
Dozens of protesters Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis federal building being used a base for the immigration crackdown. Border Patrol officers fired tear gas and doused demonstrators with pepper spray to push them back from the gate.
Area schools were closed as a safety precaution.
A vigil Wednesday night for the victim drew hundreds of people. A march through the city concluded without violence.
Protests were also planned across the U.S. in cities including New York, New Orleans and Seattle.