MINNEAPOLIS — Tensions in Minneapolis escalated on Thursday following the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal officer involved in the Trump administration’s intensified immigration crackdown. The incident sparked public outcry, prompted the governor to call for calm, and led to the cancellation of school classes as a safety measure.
State and local officials urged the departure of immigration agents from Minnesota after the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, a mother of three, by an unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Wednesday. Despite these demands, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the agents would remain in place.
The Department of Homeland Security has dispatched over 2,000 officers to the region, marking what it describes as its most extensive immigration enforcement operation to date. According to Noem, the crackdown has already resulted in the arrest of more than 1,500 individuals.
On Thursday morning, a crowd of protesters gathered outside a federal building on the outskirts of Minneapolis, which has become a focal point for the immigration operation. Chanting slogans like “No More ICE,” “Go Home Nazis,” “Quit Your Job,” and “Justice Now!” the demonstrators faced off with Border Patrol officers, who responded with pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
“This is horrifying,” stated protester Shanta Hejmadi. “It’s disheartening to see our government acting against its own citizens. We must stand up and say no. What other choice do we have?”
The protests against the immigration enforcement efforts were not limited to Minneapolis. Demonstrations also unfolded or were anticipated in major cities such as New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Chicago. Smaller cities across Arizona, North Carolina, and New Hampshire were also slated to hold protests later this week.
Bystanders captured video of Macklin Good’s killing in a residential neighborhood south of downtown, and hundreds of people turned up for a Wednesday night vigil to mourn her and urge the public to resist the immigration crackdown.
The videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across 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 it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It isn’t clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies Macklin Good as her spouse is seen crying near the vehicle. The woman, who is not identified, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and that they had a child.
Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended ICE’s work.
Noem alleged that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”
He also criticized the federal deployment and said the agents should leave.
The head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday that the U.S. attorney’s office had barred it from taking part in the investigation.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement that after the agency consulted with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 cooperation and jurisdictional clarity,” he wrote.
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday’s is at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced the operation’s launch Tuesday, at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.
In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Gov. Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He expressed outrage over the shooting but called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good.
Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
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Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave, Ed White in Detroit, Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas, Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma, Michael Biesecker In Washington, Jim Mustian in New York and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
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