Conflicting Views After ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Minnesota Woman
A 37-year-old woman was shot and killed during a federal law enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday. She has been publicly identified by her mother as Renee Nicole Good. The Trump administration has characterized her as a “violent rioter” who was “attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism.”
Minneapolis officials are disputing that characterization, saying she was a U.S. citizen and a legal observer of federal actions in the city. The city’s mayor called federal accounts of the shooting “bullshit,” while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said it was “propaganda.”
ON THE GROUND
Video from the scene shows the vehicle partially blocking a roadway being used by federal officers. DHS claims officers were trying to push their vehicle out, after getting stuck in the snow. After the driver let a vehicle pass, federal officers approached the car, ordered her to get out, and attempted to open the door. One had his weapon drawn.
She then tried to drive away, narrowly missing the officers. That’s when an ICE agent fired at least two shots and struck Good in the head.
Why they’re there: This week, the Trump administration launched what officials describe as the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out as it moved to deploy as many as 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area.
It comes amid heightened national attention on Minneapolis and its Somali community, after a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal sparked independent investigations and drew scrutiny from prominent national figures. Just days ago, Walz ended his re-election bid due to the backlash.
Protests erupt: Gov. Tim Walz (D) put the Minnesota National Guard on alert as protests have grown following the shooting.
George Floyd was killed in 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer, less than a mile from Wednesday’s shooting. Walz was criticized for not mobilizing the National Guard more quickly, following those protests.
Earlier, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged residents to respond not with violence, but with “courage, bravery, love, and compassion.” However, he also told ICE to "get the fuck out of Minneapolis," noting that he and police officials warned last month that such an incident could happen when federal officers were first deployed.
LEGAL BACKGROUND
U.S. courts typically give deference to police officers in use-of-force cases, Fox News legal editor Kerri Kupec Urbahn said Wednesday. One key precedent is a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plumhoff v. Rickard, which involved a car chase that ended with police firing 15 shots and killing the driver. The Court ultimately ruled that the use of deadly force was reasonable.
Homeland Security's policy permits firing at a moving vehicle only when agents face an imminent threat to life.
In video of the shooting, the victim is seen waving the ICE vehicles through at one point. The question is: Did she pose a danger of imminent death or serious bodily harm?
Legal analysts say that these cases are highly fact-specific and often hinge on whether an officer’s actions are judged reasonable from the officer’s perspective at the moment force was used, not with hindsight.