What to Know
- An ICE officer’s killing of a woman in Minneapolis during an immigration operation has sparked national outrage and dueling narratives about what led to the gunfire.
- The woman was identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., called Good “a U.S. citizen, a mother, and a Twin Cities resident.” She didn’t appear to be the target of the operation.
- In the aftermath, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem alleged the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” and said the FBI would investigate.
- State and local officials say video from witnesses contradicts the federal account; they are demanding accountability and for the feds to pull the ICE agents deployed to Minnesota.
- Protests are planned Thursday in Minneapolis and across the country, including in New York City
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference touting ongoing immigration operations in New York City and railing against newly inaugurated Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, a day after a deadly ICE-involved shooting in Minnesota ignited a national firestorm.
Noem appeared alongside top customs and homeland security investigation officials at One World Trade Center, where she touted a multi-agency operation in the five boroughs that she says netted more than 50 arrests of transnational gang members and affiliates. She says all were involved in multiple local crimes.
The secretary blasted sanctuary city policies that she says protect “criminals” who come into the U.S. illegally, telling those Democrat-led cities the feds are “coming for you.” She also called out Mamdani for his response to the Minneapolis ICE shooting, accusing him of favoring “illegals” over New York City citizens who elected him.
“We have a responsibility to state the facts to go out and enforce the law. Your mayor just said in that statement that he was going to stand with illegal people who have broken our law before,” Noem said.
“He was elected was to protect the people who live here, that had the opportunity to vote for him and have the opportunity to live in this city,” Noem continued. “They pay their taxes, they go to work every day. And instead, the mayor in that statement chose to stand with illegals instead of those individuals who just want the chance to raise their families in New York City and have a part of the American dream.”
Mamdani didn’t immediately respond to the slight Thursday.
As she touted the feds’ immigration efforts, protesters gathered outside in hopes of confronting her in person.
They rally over the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good, who died after being shot in the head on Wednesday by an ICE agent working as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. It happened in a residential neighborhood south of downtown; DHS had flooded the area with more than 2,000 officers in what it called one of its largest immigration enforcement operations so far.
Federal officials say the shooting was justified, calling the woman’s preceding behavior an “act of domestic terrorism.” Local officials say video from witnesses contradicts that story. They want ICE out.
Noem says those agents helped arrest more than 1,500 in Minnesota — and they aren’t going anywhere.
Wednesday’s shooting in Minneapolis has prompted unrest and burgeoning protests across the country. In New York City, protesters who gathered at Foley Square early Wednesday headed to One World Trade in hopes of confronting Noem in person. More demonstrations are expected throughout the day.
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What happened in Minneapolis?
The videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies Macklin Good as her spouse is seen crying near the vehicle. The woman, who is not identified, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and they had a child.
Noem, in the immediate aftermath, called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended ICE’s work.
Noem alleged that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”
He also criticized the federal deployment and said the agents should leave.
A nation on edge
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday’s is at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced the operation’s launch Tuesday, at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.
In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Gov. Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He expressed outrage over the shooting but called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good.
Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
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