"Get the f*** out": Fatal shooting raises tensions amid ICE's Minneapolis surge
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A Border Patrol Tactical Unit agent pepper-sprays a protester near a scene where an ICE agent killed a 37-year-old woman in south Minneapolis. Photo: Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
The fatal shooting by ICE yesterday threatens to further inflame tensions between Minnesota officials and residents and the federal agents carrying out an unprecedented surge in immigration enforcement in the state.
What happened: An ICE officer shot through the window of a vehicle that drove close to federal agents in South Minneapolis yesterday, killing 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
- Video of the incident — filmed by witnesses from multiple angles — quickly spread on social media, fueling thousands to join marches and demonstrations through Minneapolis and other cities across the country.
The big picture: With thousands of federal agents on the ground in the Twin Cities — and millions of Americans enraged by what they think they saw — the region risks becoming a hub of civil unrest again.
Split screen: Following the shooting, a fiery Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded that ICE "get the f**k out of Minneapolis." A chorus of top Democrats echoed the sentiment, warning agents' presence had become inflammatory.
- Meanwhile, President Trump called the incident "horrible," saying the agent fired in self-defense, and he blamed "the Radical Left" for "targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis."
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters the woman was attempting to carry out "an act of domestic terrorism" against the agents.
Between the lines: Gov. Tim Walz told reporters that protesters were "patriotic" — but also warned them against a violent response that would hand the Trump administration justification to send in federal troops.
- Walz told reporters earlier this week he feared agents' presence might create, rather than relieve, public safety problems.
- "I don't want to be right about this," the governor said after the shooting. "I hope we're at the McCarthy moment: Do you have no decency? We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever."
Meanwhile, top Republicans rallied behind the agents.
- "Shame on the elected officials who endanger these agents by spewing lies and hateful rhetoric," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer wrote on X.
What we know about the shooting
The shooting took place before 10am in a chaotic sequence on Portland Avenue, according to police, federal officials and witnesses.
Zoom in: A witness shared video of the incident with Axios — filmed at a distance — in which gunshots are audible after a dark SUV attempts to drive past a gathering of ICE agents and vehicles.
- Video from a different angle obtained by the Minnesota Reformer shows agents approaching the SUV after it briefly stopped in the middle of the roadway.
- An agent reached through the window before the vehicle drove off and another fired multiple shots from the front corner of the vehicle, the Reformer video shows.
Context: About 10 seconds before shots rang out, footage also showed two different vehicles inching through the same crowd and driving away without incident.
- One eyewitness told MPR News that ICE officers on the scene gave mixed orders to the motorist. One told her to drive off; another demanded she get out of the car.
Good, the woman who was killed, was not the target of ICE enforcement, Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara told reporters. Other witnesses and activists called her an "ICE observer."
What they're saying: In a statement, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Good a "violent rioter" who "weaponized her vehicle … in an attempt to kill the agents," and that the agent fired "defensive shots."
"That is bullshit," Mayor Jacob Frey said of DHS' statement, saying video of the killing showed "an agent recklessly using power."
- "Any professional law enforcement agency" would find it "very concerning whenever there's shooting into a vehicle of someone who is not armed," added O'Hara.
What's next: The FBI and Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension — which routinely reviews shootings that involve law enforcement officers — are now investigating jointly.