ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Protester

Federal officials say the officer who shot the woman acted in self-defense, while local leaders say this is government overreach gone too far.

Protestors face-off with Department of Homeland Security personnel in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 9, 2026. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

An Immigration officer shot and killed a protester who officials said was attempting to drive into federal agents while conducting operations in Minnesota on Jan. 7, sparking unrest in the city.

A woman, identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was driving an SUV and obstructing the road when agents approached her and asked her to exit the vehicle. She then tried to drive through them when agents opened fire, according to federal officials.

Hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been operating in Minneapolis in recent days amid federal immigration enforcement operations and an investigation into alleged widespread welfare fraud in the state.

Federal officials say the officer who shot Good acted in self-defense, while local leaders say this is government overreach gone too far. The FBI is investigating the incident.

Minnesota Gov. Mike Waltz issued an order to prepare the National Guard for deployment if necessary in the case of civil unrest.

“It’s governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost someone their life,” Waltz said at a news briefing on Jan. 8, criticizing ICE officers’ actions.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the officer’s response at a press conference on Jan. 7, describing Good’s action as an “act of domestic terrorism.”

According to Noem, Good had been following Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and had “been stalking and impeding their work all throughout the day,” alongside a “mob of agitators.”

Officers were trying to push out a vehicle stuck in the snow when they approached Good, who was sitting in her SUV blocking them in, and ordered her to get out of the vehicle. She then “proceeded to weaponize her vehicle” by ramming into them, Noem said.

Noem said there have been 100 vehicle rammings in recent weeks, with four of them described as domestic terrorist attacks against officers, and three of those incidents were in Minneapolis.

The agent who fired had been dragged by a car during a previous incident months prior and injured, Noem said.

In a Jan. 7 statement on X, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has been critical of federal immigration enforcement operations, demanded that ICE leave the city and accused officers of “causing chaos in our city.”

Enforcement against illegal immigration, a priority for the Trump administration, has been a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats.

Hennepin County, where Minneapolis resides, is a sanctuary jurisdiction that shields illegal immigrants by restricting local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

In June, Walz, alongside Democratic Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York, testified before the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where they said that they cooperate with ICE in removing criminal illegal immigrants but not illegal immigrants who abide by the law.

Immigration enforcement was a focus of President Donald Trump’s political campaign when he promised to solve the problem of a large number of illegal immigrants who had entered the country, especially during the previous administration.

The number of border encounters peaked at over 370,000 in December 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

As of 2023, there were 14 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, meaning those without legal status, according to the Pew Research Center.

Trump issued 181 immigration-related executive actions within his first 100 days in office to curb illegal immigration, which he declared a crisis.

A Department of Homeland Security report in December marked border crossings as being down 93 percent year over year.

“In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history,” Noem said in a statement.

According to the statement, “more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations.”

Jacki Thrapp contributed to this report.