An ICE officer in its major immigration crackdown fatally shot a woman driving an SUV through her car window in South Minneapolis on Wednesday. US President
Donald Trump called the incident "horrible thing to watch" and said that the woman was "a professional agitator."
The deadly confrontation escalated the intensity of situation in what was already heated-up immigration raid on Minnesota and its immigrants by Donald Trump administration. The administration confirmed the shooting and also informed that the woman was a rioter who in her vehicle attempted to run over law enforcement officers.
A video of the incident immediately surfaced widely over social media, showing a Honda SUV apparently blocking unmarked law enforcement vehicles as they attempt to drive down a street that was covered with snow.
The driver, identified by local media as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, tried to drive away as officers approached and attempted to open her door, prompting one agent to fire three shots as the vehicle pulled off.
In the video, an officer is heard ordering the driver to get out of the car and attempting to open the door, after which the driver slowly reverses and then moves forward as if trying to flee. An officer positioned at the front fires three shots, and the SUV travels a short distance at point-blank before crashing into a parked car.
The woman was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Minneapolis police chief.
Trump, who has ordered nationwide anti-immigration raids, accused the woman of trying to “viciously” run over the agent. Trump reacted to the event, taking to his Truth Social, he wrote: "I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense. Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital.
Also read | ICE shooting in Minneapolis: Woman killed by officer, DHS says it was an act of self-defense He further added in the post, "The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis. They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!"
ICE's federal agents have played a central role in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and deportation push, despite objections from some local officials.
Last summer, the department of homeland security (DHS) launched an aggressive recruitment drive to add 10,000 ICE agents to its existing force of about 6,000, drawing criticism that newly deployed officers lacked adequate training.
DHS secretary
Kristi Noem said “any loss of life is a tragedy” but described the incident as “domestic terrorism,” alleging that Good had been stalking and obstructing ICE operations throughout the day. She said Good later “weaponized her vehicle.”
Also read | No room for any ICE agent: Minneapolis hotel cancels reservation; MAGA calls for 'boycott Hilton'The incident took place during protests against immigration enforcement in southern Minneapolis, in the midwestern state of Minnesota.
DHS, which oversees ICE, said in a post on X that the woman had attempted to run over an officer, who then fired what it described as "defensive shots."
What is happening in Minneapolis?
The administration deployed hundreds of agents to the city on Wednesday in what officials described as the largest crackdown since a Minnesota welfare fraud case drew national attention. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said he was aware of the shooting involving an ICE agent and called for federal immigration officers to leave the city “immediately.”
“The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” Frey said in a statement on social media. “We’re demanding ICE leave the city immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who withdrew from the governor’s race following the welfare controversy, said his office was working to “gather information on an ICE-related shooting this morning.”