An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, sparking protests and conflicting accounts from officials. Video footage shows the incident unfolding amid an ICE operation, with federal authorities claiming self-defense while local leaders call it reckless use of force. The event has heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement in the city.
On January 7, 2026, just after 9:30 a.m., ICE agents were responding to a vehicle stuck in snow on Portland Avenue near East 34th Street in south Minneapolis when protesters arrived, according to a city timeline and witness Caitlin Callenson. Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother, poet, and self-described legal observer for immigrant neighbors, was in her Honda Pilot SUV, which video shows positioned sideways on the snowy street. As agents approached, one grabbed the door handle while another drew his weapon from the front. Good began to drive away, and the agent, identified by NPR as Jonathan Ross, fired at least two shots into the vehicle, striking her. The SUV then crashed, and Good was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the shooting, stating the officer acted to protect himself after Good "weaponized" her vehicle in an "act of domestic terrorism." She noted Ross had previously been injured in June 2025 when Roberto Carlos Munoz-Guatemala, a Mexican national convicted of sexual abuse, dragged him with a car during an arrest attempt in Bloomington, Indiana. Noem said the federal presence in Minneapolis would continue or expand, with the officer now spending time with family after hospital treatment.
Local officials sharply disagreed. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, after viewing video, called the self-defense claim "bull****," describing it as "a federal agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying." He demanded ICE leave the city. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz linked the incident to President Trump's policies, calling it "governance designed to generate fear" and warning of risks from the "reckless ICE mobilization." Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison portrayed Good as "a compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer," rejecting the terrorism label.
Video interpretations conflict: Federal sources and some analyses claim Good aimed her car at the officer, striking him in a glancing blow due to icy conditions, justifying deadly force under law treating vehicles as weapons. Others, including local reports, show her attempting to drive away, with agents giving conflicting orders—one to leave, another to exit the vehicle—before the close-range shots. Over 100 vehicle assaults on ICE agents occurred in the past year, per reports.
Initially a joint FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation, the state agency withdrew on January 8 after federal reversal, leaving the FBI in sole charge. Walz urged a state-led probe for fairness, citing the George Floyd case, while Vice President Vance dismissed concerns, insisting the agent's life was in danger. Protests erupted, with thousands at a vigil drawing George Floyd parallels; Frey echoed calls for ICE to "get the fuck out." Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, known for prosecuting police misconduct, could pursue state charges despite federal involvement. This marks the ninth ICE shooting since September 2025, amid Trump's expanded enforcement in Democratic cities.
