Updated January 8, 2026 at 2:55 PM CST
Democratic leaders criticized the shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Wednesday in Minneapolis, as well as the Trump administration's response to it.
"The killing of Renee Nicole Good was an abomination — a disgrace," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a Thursday press conference.
"And blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who've been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement connected to removing violent felons from this country."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he saw the video of the fatal shooting: "You felt like your stomach was being punched. Looking at the video, there seemed no justification for what these agents did. There needs to be a full investigation at the federal level, though I have little faith in the FBI in doing a fair investigation."
Speaking to NPR on Thursday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison described the ICE agents' actions as an "escalation" and said Good was trying to get away from the situation without being aggressive.
"I think the use of force I saw raises such serious questions that there needs to be an intense investigation and perhaps this officer should face charges," Ellison said. "But that needs to be determined through an investigation."
Ellison said his concern was that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had already attempted to spin the shooting as a clear-cut act of self-defense on the agent's behalf and was trying to downplay the need for a thorough investigation.
"You would think that the Homeland Security secretary would be the first to say, 'let's suspend judgment and look into it.' That's not what we saw," he said.
Ellison said Good was "anything but" a domestic terrorist, as Noem had described her.
Good, Ellison said, "was a compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer on behalf of her immigrant neighbors."
Details of the shooting are disputed, despite video footage
Federal and local officials dispute the circumstances that led an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to fatally shoot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
President Trump and other members of his administration characterized the ICE agent's actions as an act of self-defense. State and local leaders, however, cast doubt on that account and called for a full and fair investigation.
The shooting occurred on a residential street in south Minneapolis — less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. ICE agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations at the time, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
(Warning: The video at the following link includes violent actions and profanity.)
NPR and MPR have reviewed multiple videos of the shooting taken from different vantage points and posted to social media. The footage shows multiple officers near an SUV stopped in the middle of the road. One officer demands the driver exit the vehicle and grabs the car handle. The SUV reverses, then begins to drive forward, which is when a different officer near the front of the car pulls his weapon and fires into the vehicle. Three gunshots are heard, as the firing officer backs away from the SUV. Moments later, the vehicle crashes.
The Minneapolis City Council identified the woman as Renee Nicole Good.
"Renee was a resident of our city who was out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government," the city council said in a statement. NPR member station MPR News has reached out to a family member of the woman.
On Wednesday night, large crowds of people filled the street at a vigil in south Minneapolis to mourn Good's death. Many held up posters criticizing ICE's presence in the city, while others carried signs that read: "remember."
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, was one of many speakers who paid tribute to Good at the vigil, MPR News reported.
"She did not deserve to be gunned down in cold blood for standing up for her neighbor," Armstrong said.
At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Noem defended the use of force by the ICE agent, while calling the motorist's actions "an act of domestic terrorism."
According to Noem, ICE officials that morning were helping push one of their vehicles out of the snow when protesters appeared. Noem said the woman who was fatally shot blocked federal officers with her vehicle and refused to exit her car when officers ordered her to do so.
She added that the ICE officer who fired his gun had been struck by the car and was taken to a hospital, where he was later released.
"It's clearly established law that a vehicle driven by a person and used to harm someone is a deadly weapon," she said. "Deadly force is perfectly lawful when a threat is faced by a weapon, so I do believe that this officer used his training in this situation."
Noem said she also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and acknowledged that they hold "very different viewpoints" on the shooting.
The incident has worsened tensions between the Trump administration and Minneapolis, which has been the target of a large-scale immigration crackdown. Local officials said they expect protests to follow and urged residents to remain peaceful.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Walz said he was prepared to mobilize the state National Guard if necessary.
"They want a show. We can't give it to them," he said. "We can't give them what they want."
Federal and local officials clash over the shooting
In a statement, DHS spokesperson McLaughlin asserted that the motorist "weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them." She added that the ICE officer who pulled the trigger was "fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public."
Upon reviewing a video of the incident, Trump said he also believes the shooting was an act of self-defense.
"The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
But local leaders have raised concerns about the Trump administration's account of the shooting.
At a fiery press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accused ICE of "trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody that is bull****."
"This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed," he added.
The mayor called on ICE agents to leave the city, asserting that federal immigration authorities were ripping families apart and sowing chaos on Minneapolis streets.
Walz wrote on X that he has seen video of the shooting and told the public: "Don't believe this propaganda machine."
"The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice," he added.
Minneapolis police chief says he's "very concerned" about use of deadly force
At a press conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said local police arrived at the scene to find a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. They performed lifesaving measures at the scene, including CPR. The woman was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, he added.
Preliminary information, according to O'Hara, indicated that the woman was in her vehicle and blocking the road on Portland Avenue between 33rd and 34th streets.
"At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off. At least two shots were fired," he said, adding that the car then crashed on the side of the roadway.
O'Hara said he was "very concerned" with the tactics used by federal immigration agents. He noted that the use of deadly force is justified at times but that most law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are trained to minimize the risks and the need for deadly force.
"In any professional law enforcement agency in the country, I think they would tell you it's obviously very concerning whenever there's a shooting into a vehicle of someone who's not armed," he said.
The shooting is being investigated by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They will investigate the use of deadly force.
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