Protests After Minneapolis Fatal Shooting by Immigration Agent
BBC News
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Protests have taken place in Minneapolis after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a US immigration agent
Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car in the middle of the street. As it attempts to drive off, one of them points his gun at the driver and at least two shots are heard – what we know, and don't know
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good was "stalking and impeding" officers and tried to "weaponise her vehicle"
The Minneapolis City Council, however, said Good was simply "caring for her neighbours" when she was shot and killed at around 10:25 local time on Wednesday morning
Hundreds of ICE agents have been deployed to Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, as part of the White House's crackdown on illegal immigration
Following the shooting, the city's Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey, used an expletive to urge the ICE agents to leave. Noem says ICE operations in Minneapolis will continue and the FBI is investigating
Edited by Rorey Bosotti and Jake Lapham
We've just heard from Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, who tells the BBC's US partner CBS News that Wednesday's shooting was "entirely predictable".
"We recognise quite obviously that this has been building over the course of several weeks," he says. "This was a very tense situation on the ground."
The woman fatally shot, Renee Nicole Good, appears not have been the target of any "pre-planned law enforcement", O'Hara says – adding that it seemed ICE officers approached Good's vehicle because "it was blocking the street".
He says that the majority of city police departments in the US have been training to avoid putting officers in situations where deadly force may be used, particularly where there is "no underlying serious criminal threat".
We can bring you some more reaction now from state and local leaders, starting with Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey.
He lashed out at ICE and bluntly rejected the Trump administration's assertion that the agent had shot Renee Nicole Good in self defence.
Frey said the ICE agent was "reckless", and said video of the shooting contradicts what he called the government’s “garbage narrative”.
Using an expletive, he told ICE to "get out" of the city.
Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz also condemned the fatal shooting.
Walz – who has put the National Guard on alert for possible deployment – said he feared recent ICE operations in the state would lead to tragedy.
"We've been warning for weeks that the Trump administration's dangerous, sensationalised operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt," Walz said.
"Just yesterday, I said exactly that."
We can bring you some more reaction to the killing of Renee Nicole Good now from officials in the Trump administration.
In a post on X, US Vice-President JD Vance said: "You can accept that this woman's death is a tragedy while acknowledging it's a tragedy of her own making."
"Don't illegally interfere in federal law enforcement operations and try to run over our officers with your car. It's really that simple," he added.
Meanwhile Trump's designated 'border czar' Tom Homan told the BBC's US partner CBS News that he will "let the investigation play out and hold people accountable based on the investigation."
When asked more generally about excessive force used by ICE, Homan said he hasn't seen an example of excessive force during the whole administration.
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Watch: Trump says he 'doesn't want' Somali migrants in US
The shooting of Renee Nicole Good comes as the Trump administration's immigration enforcement in Minnesota ramped up in recent weeks.
Back in November, Trump ended a protection programme for Somali residents living in the state. Minnesota is home to the largest population of Somali immigrants in the US.
Weeks later, Trump said he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, saying they should "go back to where they came from" and "their country is no good for a reason".
Community leaders told the BBC the "apprehension is palpable" following Trump's remarks.
Then in December, Trump froze child care payments in the state after a conservative YouTuber alleged that several centres run by Somali immigrants were taking public money without providing care.
State officials have pushed back against allegations of fraud in the YouTube video.
In the New Year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was undertaking "the largest DHS operation ever" in Minnesota.
Footage shot by onlookers shows the moment that an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
It shows ICE agents approaching a car which is in the middle of the street. As it attempts to drive off, one of them points his gun at the driver and at least two shots are heard. The FBI is investigating.
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Video shows moment US immigration agent fatally shoots woman
As more details emerge about Renee Nicole Good, her parents have paid tribute to their daughter who was fatally shot a few blocks away from her home.
“She had a good life, but a hard life,” her father Tim Ganger told the Washington Post. “She was a wonderful person.”
She was a prize-winning poet and a hobby guitarist, and according to Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, a US citizen.
Good studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Originally from Colorado Springs, she had moved to Minneapolis just last year from Kansas City.
City leaders have said Good was a legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. But the Trump administration has called her a "domestic terrorist".
Her ex-husband told the Associated Press that she had just dropped her six-year-old son at school and was driving home with her partner when they came across the ICE agents.
Meanwhile, Good's mother, Donna Ganger, told the local Minneapolis Tribune Star that her daughter "was probably terrified" when she saw the agents.
According to the Star, she said her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all,” referring to protesters challenging ICE agents.
“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” she told the Star. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”
What we know:
What we don't know:
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) was created after the 11 September attacks to police immigration and national security.
It's responsible for federal homeland security investigations and for operations removing people who are in the US illegally.
Immigration raids have increased during Trump's second term – with officials pressing for 3,000 arrests per day.
During his election campaign, Trump promised the "largest deportation program in American history".
Raids have taken place in workplaces and courthouses, sparking protests in cities being targeted.
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Tracking the ICE tactics used in Trump's mass deportation drive
After Renee Nicole Good was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, residents held a vigil for the 37-year-old US citizen.
One Minneapolis resident spoke to the BBC about the mood in the city following the shooting. You can listen below.
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Minneapolis residents hold vigil for woman shot dead by ICE agent
American officials have provided conflicting accounts of what led to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a US immigration officer in Minneapolis.
According to US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Good was "stalking and impeding" officers throughout the day and tried to "weaponise her vehicle", attempting to run over the officer in an act of "domestic terrorism".
But Minneapolis City Council say that she was "caring for her neighbours" when she was shot and killed. The city's mayor said the agent who shot her had acted recklessly.
Minnesota State Governor Tim Walz also pushed back on federal accounts of the incident, pledging a "full, fair, and expeditious investigation".
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara said the driver was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. She was then approached on foot by a federal law enforcement officer, "and she began to drive off", he said.
Rorey Bosotti
Live page editor
The state of Minnesota is grappling with the aftermath of the shooting of a 37-year-old woman during an ICE operation in Minneapolis.
Local, state and federal officials are clashing in their characterisations of exactly what happened.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the woman, Renee Nicole Good, was "stalking and impeding" officers throughout the day and tried to "weaponise her vehicle" in an attempt to run over the officer in an act of "domestic terrorism".
The Minneapolis City Council, however, said in a statement that Good was "caring for her neighbours" when she was shot and killed. The city's mayor accused the agent involved of acting recklessly.
Meanwhile, residents attended a vigil for Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening. The shooting also sparked protests in multiple other US cities.
We're now resuming our coverage of the incident and its aftermath, so stick with us as we bring you the latest updates.
We're wrapping up our live coverage of the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.
Here is a rundown of the main developments and what we learned today.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive voice, has condemned the ICE shooting as "a public murder".
"What we saw today was a criminal murder a woman and shoot her in the head while she was trying to escape and flee for her life."
She adds that the incident is a "a manifestation of every American’s worst nightmare".
When asked about comments from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other officials who said the woman was "weaponising" her vehicle, she described their remarks as "editorialising" of the event to "justify a public murder".
"It's disgusting and it is horrifying… Watch it for yourself and make that assessment to yourself and which of these leaders are lying to you," she says.
Looking back at the press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, she cited that there had been "four different domestic terrorist attacks on federal officers" that involved the ramming of vehicles today.
"Three of them happened here in Minneapolis. We've seen over 100 of these vehicle rammings happen in just recent weeks, and this must stop," she said.
We're getting more reactions from Democrats over the incident. The BBC has spoken to representative for Minnesota Betty McCollum, who says she doesn't believe the use of force was against Renee Good, the woman who was killed, was justified.
"She wasn't driving the car violently, there wasn't anything violent happening with the car until she was struck in the head and crashed into another car," she says.
McCollum adds she wants to see investigators do their work to find out what happened in today's fatal shooting: "We need justice, we need facts, we need the truth and Minnesota deserves an apology."
A witness to today's incident described their shock after seeing the fatal ICE shooting unfold.
The woman who lives in the neighbourhood told NBC News that she has "never seen anything like this before".
“I’ve never seen someone die in front of my house before. This was horrendous,” Emily Heller says.
"This was horrific and will change my life forever."
She adds after Renee Good was shot, emergency services took around 15 minutes to arrive on scene because vehicles were blocking the street.
“They [EMT] were on foot when they got through, and they carried her body out, just like by her limbs, they didn’t even have a stretcher," Heller said. "She was carried out like a sack of potatoes."
The BBC has not independently verified the details in this account.
Reactions to today's shooting from politicians have been starkly different, with Democrats accusing federal agents of gunning down an innocent woman in cold blood, and Republicans accusing the woman of attempting to murder an immigration agent with her car.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement, saying "the masked ICE agent who pulled the trigger should be criminally investigated to the full extent of the law for acting with depraved indifference to human life".
Kentucky Republican Congressman Andy Barr posted that ICE agents "delivering exactly what Kentuckians voted for: a secure border and the deportation of dangerous illegal criminals. Targeting ICE agents will never end well for anyone who tries."
Meanwhile, inside Minnesota, officials have also issued very different statements on the shooting.
Republican Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach, who represents a district in the west of Minnesota, wrote that "today's targeted assault on ICE agents in Minneapolis is the direct result of the dangerous rhetoric from sanctuary policies and the politicians who back them."
"I stand with the officer who acted in self-defence to save lives," she added, "and I will continue to fight for the men and women who keep our communities safe."
Protests have been ongoing in several parts of the city, according to reports, with the main gathering happening near the scene of Wednesday's fatal shooting at East 34th Street and Portland Avenue.
A makeshift vigil, displaying flowers and candles, is laid near the snow there, as protesters chant slogans and deliver speeches condemning the police shooting.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper reports that hundreds of people have gathered at the site, including a group of clergy who sang hymns.
Protests and arrests have also taken place elsewhere in the city.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, US Border Patrol officers entered a public school property about three miles from the shooting, where they tackled people, and made arrests using pepper spray.
Photos show agents making arrests in the snow. The incident occurred just as school was letting out for the day.
Earlier in the day, a group of protesters formed a line blocking the entrance to federal courthouse, with ICE officers standing inside, according to the Star-Tribune. The group of around 50 people chanted the name of the woman killed by police, Renee Good, and dispersed around 16:00 after breaking a glass window.
Protests have also been planned in cities outside Minneapolis, with gatherings expected in New Orleans, Miami and New York City.
People gather for a vigil in Minneapolis after today's fatal shooting of a US citizen by an ICE agent
Former vice president Kamala Harris has released a statement on the "shocking incident" that took place in Minneapolis.
"Many of us have seen the horrifying and painful video, which makes it clear that the Trump administration's explanation of this shooting is pure gaslighting," says Harris, who ran for president with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
"A full and fair investigation at the state level is absolutely necessary," she says.
Gaslighting is the term applied when someone is made to question their perception of reality in order to control them.
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Watch: Police chief describes how Minneapolis shooting unfolded
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