Minnesotans speak out about fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good: "This is not a time for us to be silent"
On Wednesday, as the Trump administration was intensifying immigration raids in Minnesota, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.
As videos of the shooting circulated online, different accounts of what happened emerged, putting Minnesota officials sharply at odds with the Trump administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Good's interaction with ICE agents as "an act of domestic terrorism."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded to the administration's portrayal, saying, "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bull****."
Vice President JD Vance placed the blame on Good, telling reporters, "I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognizing that it's a tragedy of her own making."
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, meanwhile, said, "People in positions of power have already passed judgement. From the president, to the vice president, to Kristi Noem, [they] have stood and told you things that are verifiably false."
More than 2,000 federal agents arrived in Minnesota this past week – the largest deployment of its kind under President Trump – in what the administration says is a crackdown on both fraud and illegal immigration.
The fatal shooting comes amid a turbulent time for the state, which has been reeling from a welfare scandal.
The situation has remained tense in Minneapolis. State investigators say federal officials have denied them access to evidence in the investigation of Good's death. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated, "The current posture is that the investigation is one that the feds want to do without state involvement."
Minneapolis public schools cancelled classes. Vigils popped up citywide. And demonstrators are taking to the streets with familiar outrage.
The protests sparked by Good's death have revived memories of another scene that played out more than five years ago, when George Floyd was killed at the hands of police less than a mile from where Good was murdered.
Former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton was at a vigil being held outside her church, less than two blocks from the site of Wednesday's shooting. "I'm feeling angry, frustrated, but I don't feel hopeless," Belton said.
"We're not powerless to act, but we have to speak with one voice," she said. "This is a time for action. This is not a time for us to be silent."
Asked what that action might look like, Belton replied, "Action means demanding that there be an investigation of what happened in our community. What happened? Why was Renee Nicole Good killed? We need answers. And if we don't do this as a nation, I don't know, I fear that it could happen again. And that would be the real tragedy."
On Saturday, anti-ICE protests nationwide took their cues from Minneapolis — a city that has time and time again forced the nation to face itself.
Story produced by Jack Weingart. Editor: Ed Givnish.
