Minneapolis Mayor blasts ICE over fatal shooting, disputes official story

WEB DESK: A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, generating sharply conflicting narratives from federal and local authorities and sparking immediate protests. The incident occurred during a heightened federal immigration operation, further inflaming tensions between the Trump administration and Democratic-led cities.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey delivered an angry rebuttal to the Department of Homeland Security’s claim that the agent acted in self-defense. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullsh*t,” Frey stated at a press conference, insisting the footage contradicted the official version. He blamed federal agents for sowing chaos and demanded ICE leave the city.

Competing accounts of a fatal encounter

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem offered a starkly different account, alleging the victim, identified by local officials as Renee Nicole Good, had “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted to run over an officer after harassing agents throughout the day. Noem labeled the act “domestic terrorism.”

Video of the incident, verified by Reuters, shows agents approaching Good’s stationary SUV. After the vehicle moves forward slowly, an agent steps back and fires three shots into the car as it passes him. It remains unclear from the footage whether the car made contact with the officer. The vehicle then accelerated and crashed.

A city in mourning, a nation divided

The shooting triggered an evening protest at the scene in a residential neighborhood, where candles were placed in the snow. Some demonstrators were dispersed by federal agents deploying chemical irritants. Democratic Governor Tim Walz condemned the administration’s narrative, placed the National Guard on alert, and blamed federal “recklessness” for the tragedy.

Good’s mother described her daughter as “extremely compassionate” and not confrontational. Authorities confirmed Good was not a target of the immigration sweep, which is part of a large-scale DHS operation in Minnesota following fraud allegations within some Somali-administered social programs.

The incident has become a national flashpoint, with President Donald Trump defending the agent’s actions on social media, while local leaders call for investigations and an end to the federal operation, highlighting the deep political divisions surrounding immigration enforcement.

Alexandaria Ocasio-Cortez said that the incident had now become what they feared most about ICE for a long time: “That it would be used as an anti-civilian force with no accountability. At the end of the day, what we saw today was a murder, and murders in cold blood need to be prosecuted.”