A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman Wednesday morning during an operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, local and federal officials have confirmed.
The shooting comes as the Trump administration has deployed about 2,000 federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as part of a crackdown it says is in response to a fraud scandal roiling the state over the alleged misuse of public COVID funds.
Woman was shot amid protests over “targeted operations” by ICE, feds say
The city of Minneapolis said in a news release that local police responded at about 9:30 a.m. local time to a south Minneapolis neighborhood and found that a woman in a vehicle had been shot in the head.
Minneapolis firefighters rushed the woman to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she died, the city said.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said in a statement provided to CBS News that the shooting occurred while ICE officers were conducting “targeted operations.”
McLaughlin described the woman who was killed as one of several “violent rioters” who were “blocking” ICE officers.
According to McLaughlin, the woman “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”
An ICE officer, “fearing for his life,” then “fired defensive shots,” McLaughlin said.
In a news conference following the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the driver’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism.”
Noem alleged the ICE officers had gotten stuck in snow and “were attempting to push out their vehicle” when “a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”
In a social media post on Truth Social also claiming that the shooting was done in self-defense, President Trump alleged that the woman “viciously ran over the ICE Officer” before being shot. However, a video clip from a local newscast that Mr. Trump attached to the post showed no sign that an officer had been run over.
Video, witness accounts and local and state officials challenge federal claims
Statements from witnesses and local officials who point to several videos of the encounter dispute the accounts from federal officials of the circumstances that led up to the shooting.
In a fiery news conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey contested McLaughlin’s narrative that the shooting was an act of self-defense, calling the federal government’s account “bull****.”
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly: that is bulls***,” Frey said. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
In another news conference, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he had seen the video as well and also challenged the account of self-defense.
“Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” Walz said. “The state will ensure there is a full, fair and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
One video taken by a man at the scene and provided to CBS Minnesota shows a woman in a maroon Honda blocking the street with her car. An ICE agent walks behind the car and circles around to the passenger side of the vehicle.
Two agents then park their silver pickup truck and get out, walking towards the Honda’s driver.
In another video, taken from the other side of the car, an officer can be heard telling the woman to “get the f*** out of the car” as he approaches. He reaches for the Honda’s door handle and the car starts moving in reverse. As the Honda is reversing, another agent moves in front of the vehicle from the opposite side. The Honda then starts to move forward, and the agent in front of the vehicle draws his weapon and fires into the Honda.
That agent then moves to the side of the car, although it’s unclear if he was hit or not, and fires two more shots as the car continues moving forward.
The videos show the car driving off a few dozen feet before crashing into another car further down the street.
Multiple witnesses reaffirmed what was seen in the video, telling CBS Minnesota that whistles sounded to alert neighbors of ICE’s presence at about 9:30 a.m.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are jointly investigating the shooting.
What we know so far about the victim and the ICE officer who opened fire
The victim was identified to CBS News by a U.S. official as 37-year-old Renee Good.
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said in a social media post that the woman is believed to be a U.S. citizen.
The name of the officer has not been released. Two federal sources told CBS News the agent who discharged his weapon in Minneapolis was an immigration agent with an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations team.
Shooting prompts local outrage
In his news conference Wednesday, Frey had a blunt message to federal immigration officers, “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”
“They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” he said.
About 1,500 ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents and 650 Homeland Security Investigations agents have been deployed to the Twin Cities in recent weeks, CBS News has learned, an increase 15 times the normal ICE presence in the region.
Walz in his news conference said the state “doesn’t need any further help from the federal government.”
“To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough,” Walz said.
The governor also directed the Minnesota National Guard to prepare in the event that it was need to assist state and local authorities amid the fallout from the shooting.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said in a statement that “ICE must stop terrorizing our communities.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Mr. Trump’s decision to send thousands of federal agents to Minnesota is “causing serious harm and spreading terror” through the community.