US ICE agent kills woman in Minneapolis, triggers political backlash

Washington: A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in south Minneapolis during a federal immigration operation, an incident that drew sharply conflicting accounts from federal authorities and local officials and ignited a political dispute over the Trump administration’s enforcement tactics.

President Donald Trump and administration officials said the agent acted in self-defence after the woman used her vehicle to threaten officers. Local leaders, citing video footage and eyewitness accounts, rejected that explanation and called for independent investigations.

The shooting occurred around 9:30 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue. The woman was later identified as Renee Nicole Good. Minneapolis police said she was struck in the head and pronounced dead at a hospital.

In a statement to FOX 9, ICE said officers were conducting a targeted operation when protesters blocked them. “One of these violent rioters weaponised her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism,” the statement said. ICE said an officer, “fearing for his life”, fired defensive shots.

Trump defended the agent in a post after viewing a video of the incident, calling it “a horrible thing to watch”. He said the woman “violently, willfully, and viciously” ran over an ICE officer, who “seems to have shot her in self-defence”.

“The situation is being studied, in its entirety,” Trump said, adding that such incidents were occurring because “the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis”. He said ICE agents were “just trying to do the job of making America safe.”

Minnesota officials disputed that account. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had reviewed video of the shooting and rejected the self-defence claim. “Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit,” Frey said, calling it a “garbage narrative”.

Witnesses told local FOX 9 that the woman was inside a red Honda Pilot when ICE agents approached. According to their accounts, one agent stood on either side of the vehicle while a third attempted to open the driver’s side door. Witnesses said an agent then stepped back and fired three shots through the driver’s side window, adding that the vehicle was not moving toward the agents.

Video reviewed by FOX 9 shows an ICE agent positioned in front of the vehicle as it begins to move forward. The agent fires multiple shots while sidestepping the SUV, which then crashes into a parked vehicle.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz rejected the Department of Homeland Security’s narrative, urging the public to “not believe this propaganda machine.” He said the state would conduct “a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

Walz later activated the state’s Emergency Operations Centre and issued a warning order for the Minnesota National Guard to prepare for possible unrest, while urging protesters to remain peaceful. “We can’t give them what they want,” Walz said, referring to unrest.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she spoke with Walz after the shooting, but said they held “very different viewpoints”. She again described the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism”, citing what she said was a sharp rise in vehicle-ramming attacks against federal agents.

“Today alone in this country, there have been four different domestic terrorist attacks on federal officers by the ramming of vehicles,” Noem said. She said the ICE agent involved was hospitalised after the incident and later released.

Democratic Congressmen condemned the shooting. Representative Ilhan Omar called the killing “unconscionable and reprehensible”, describing it as “state violence” and calling for “a full, comprehensive investigation and legal action against the agency”.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum accused the Trump administration of directing aggressive enforcement actions that “sow chaos, division, and distrust”, and called for ICE to halt operations in the state immediately.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association criticised what it called “irresponsible, reckless rhetoric” from political leaders, saying such language endangered officers and urged respect for the investigative process.

Authorities said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI were leading the investigation. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office was “pushing hard” for a local investigation to ensure transparency.

The shooting comes as the Department of Homeland Security says ICE is carrying out its “largest ever” immigration enforcement operation, which has intensified confrontations between federal agents, local officials and protesters in several US cities.

IANS