The scene can be seen on the Internet from three angles: three uniformed ICE immigration officers with black masks on their heads approach the car, which is parked across from another SUV. One of them shakes the door, apparently to get the woman out from behind the wheel. Another, standing on the side of the hood, immediately fires several shots as the car drives away.
According to police, the driver was hit in the head. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital. It is not clear whether the officer was hit by the car. In one of the videos, it looks like the man is slipping on the icy street and touching the car. After a few meters, the car hits a power pole and a parked car. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. According to police, the victim is a 37-year-old white American woman. There is no evidence to suggest that the woman was a subject of interest by the authorities.
Christie Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, said about the incident in Minneapolis that the woman tried to run over ICE officers. She spoke of a "defensive" use of a firearm to protect the officers and people nearby. Donald Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social that the woman had "violently and intentionally" attacked an ICE officer with her car, and the officer acted in a life-threatening situation and is currently recovering in hospital. However, the photos do not show the man being injured. After the incident, he continued to move without assistance.
City authorities say otherwise
Noem's and Trump's statements contradict the version of the authorities in the city of Minneapolis. Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey has strongly criticized the ICE operation. He has categorically rejected the self-defense theory after reviewing the video footage and accused federal authorities of escalating the situation.
In Minneapolis, hundreds protested. They gathered at the scene of the incident and chanted "Shame" and "Get out of here" at ICE and the police.
The ICE operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul, which the Department of Homeland Security says involves more than 2,000 federal agents, has been ongoing for several days. The purpose of the operation, as stated by authorities, is to investigate alleged fraud, including those involving members of the Somali community. The American media is discussing whether the reason given by the authorities for the operation serves as a pretext for a politically motivated tightening of immigration policy.
Who is the woman killed by ICE?
The woman shot by ICE has been identified as Renee Nicole Good. She was 37 years old, a mother of three. She had recently moved to Minneapolis, the BBC reported. She had previously lived in Kansas City. She was a poet and amateur guitarist.
She was at the scene of the incident as a legal observer of ICE activities, city leaders said. She was in this role as a volunteer, and the task of these observers is to maintain calm, deter illegal behavior and ensure compliance with legal rights, according to a BBC publication.
Donna Ganger, the victim's mother, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter "was not involved in anything" related to opposing ICE agents. She is "one of the best people I have ever known," the mother added. "She was extremely compassionate. She spent her whole life caring for people. She was loving, forgiving and gentle. She was an incredible human being."
Good studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In 2020, she won a student award from the Academy of American Poets. Goode graduated that same year from the university's College of Arts and Letters with a degree in English.
In a statement, university president Brian Hemphill said her sudden death "is yet another clear example of how fear and violence have sadly become commonplace in our country," the BBC reported.
A fundraising campaign for Goode's family, which was set to raise $50,000, has raised more than $370,000 in just ten hours.