ICE Just Murdered a Woman in Minneapolis: Here's What Happened
This morning, an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in south Minneapolis. She was a U.S. citizen. She was not the target of any immigration enforcement. She was a legal observer—someone who voluntarily documents ICE activity to protect communities from federal violence. And now she's dead, shot in the head by a federal agent while sitting in her car.
Her name was Renee Nicole Good. Remember it.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 7th, on East 34th Street and Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis, ICE agents conducting what they called "targeted operations" encountered a group of community members who were blocking their activities. Witnesses report that whistles sounded to alert neighbors of ICE's presence—a common tactic in communities organizing against raids.
Renee was in her Honda Pilot, blocking the roadway to slow down ICE operations. Video footage and eyewitness accounts show ICE agents surrounding her vehicle. An agent approached the driver's side door and attempted to open it, reaching inside the vehicle. The agents gave conflicting orders—some yelling at her to get out, others telling her to leave.
Renee put her car in reverse, then began to drive forward. An ICE agent standing at the front of her SUV fired multiple shots through the windshield, hitting her in the face and head. The car traveled several more feet before crashing into a light pole. Her airbag deployed. The interior was covered in blood.
ICE vehicles blocked the street, preventing an ambulance from reaching Renee for approximately ten minutes. When paramedics finally got to her, they performed CPR at the scene. She was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The entire incident—from ICE's arrival to the shooting—took less than a minute.
The Federal Narrative: "Domestic Terrorism"
Almost immediately, the Department of Homeland Security began spinning the killing. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Renee was "one of these violent rioters" who "weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down, saying the ICE agent "acted quickly and defensively" to "protect himself and the people around him." She described Renee's actions as "an act of domestic terrorism" and said the shooting demonstrates "the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day."
Let me be absolutely clear: calling a woman sitting in her car a "domestic terrorist" because she was blocking ICE operations is state propaganda designed to justify extrajudicial execution. This is how the government manufactures consent for violence against its own citizens. They kill someone, then immediately label them a threat, a rioter, a terrorist—anything to make the murder seem justified.
The Reality: Video Contradicts Everything
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has seen the video, called the federal narrative "bullshit" and "a garbage narrative." He stated bluntly: "This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed."
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has also reviewed the footage, told people directly: "Don't believe this propaganda machine."
Eyewitnesses at the scene described what actually happened. Aidan Perzana, who lives on the street where the shooting occurred, said there was "plenty of space between the officers at that point for the vehicle to make it through." He noted that it looked like Renee was trying to flee, not attack anyone.
Another witness reported that agents gave conflicting orders—some telling her to get out of the car, others telling her to leave the area. When she attempted to drive away, an agent shot her in the face.
Video circulating on social media shows the sequence of events: ICE agents approach the vehicle, an agent tries to open the door and reaches inside, the car backs up slightly and begins to pull away, and the agent fires multiple shots within seconds. At no point does the footage show Renee "attempting to run over" anyone. It shows a woman trying to escape federal agents who then executed her.
The Context: Operation Metro Surge
This didn't happen in a vacuum. The Trump administration has deployed what they're calling "the largest DHS operation ever" to Minneapolis—more than 2,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents flooded into the Twin Cities beginning in early December. Since then, they've arrested roughly 1,400 people.
This surge followed a viral video by a conservative content creator alleging that Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis were defrauding taxpayers. The video was posted on December 26th. Within days, the FBI surged investigators to Minneapolis, and HSI began door-knocking on Somali businesses. Minnesota conducted on-site checks of ten targeted daycare centers and found they were all operating normally, with children present at every location except one that hadn't yet opened when investigators arrived.
In other words: a racist conspiracy theory on social media led to the largest immigration enforcement operation in DHS history, targeting Minneapolis's large Somali community. And now a U.S. citizen is dead.
Trump himself has been attacking Minneapolis and its Somali population for months. The rhetoric from the administration has been openly hostile, framing the city as somehow un-American, overrun with immigrants, and in need of federal intervention. This is how fascism operates—dehumanize a community, flood their neighborhoods with armed agents, and then claim any resistance is terrorism.
State Violence Is Not Law Enforcement
ICE wants us to believe this was an isolated incident, a tragic but justified shooting by an officer "fearing for his life." But let's look at the pattern:
In September, an ICE agent fatally shot a man during a traffic stop in the Chicago area. His family is still demanding justice.
ICE has been conducting aggressive raids across the country, separating families, terrorizing communities, and operating with impunity.
Federal agents have been using increasingly militarized tactics—Border Patrol Tactical Units deploying pepper spray, agents in full combat gear storming residential neighborhoods, vehicles blocking streets and preventing emergency services from reaching people in need.
This is not law enforcement. This is occupation. This is state-sanctioned violence against communities that dare to resist.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the first priority after the shooting was to get Renee to the hospital, and the second was to get ICE off the scene because they were "making a difficult situation more problematic." Think about that. Local police—who are hardly paragons of accountability themselves—needed to remove federal agents because ICE was actively interfering with emergency response to the person they'd just shot.
This city knows what state violence looks like. In 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes while Floyd begged for his life. That killing sparked a global uprising against police brutality and forced the country to reckon—however briefly—with the violence inherent in policing.
Now, four years later, federal agents are killing people in Minneapolis streets again. Different uniforms, same violence. Same lies about threats and self-defense. Same demands that we believe the state's narrative over our own eyes.
Mayor Frey, who led Minneapolis through the aftermath of Floyd's murder, said at today's press conference: "To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some sort of safety, and you are doing the opposite."
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, called ICE's actions "unconscionable and reprehensible" and said they amount to "state violence." She's right. This is what state violence looks like—agents of the federal government killing people in the streets and calling it law enforcement.
Renee Nicole Good was murdered by the state for the crime of bearing witness. She wasn't even the target of ICE operations—she was there to document what ICE was doing, to provide some measure of accountability and protection for her community. And they killed her for it.
This is a turning point. ICE has shown us exactly what this administration is willing to do. They will lie. They will kill. They will call resistance terrorism and murder self-defense. They will flood our cities with armed agents and execute anyone who stands in their way.
Renee Nicole Good. 37 years old. U.S. citizen. Legal observer. Murdered by ICE. Don't let the state erase her. Don't let them turn her into a statistic or a "rioter" or a "domestic terrorist." She was a person. She was part of a community. She was killed by the state. Say her name.
Federal authorities will keep lying. They'll release selective footage, cherry-picked quotes, edited narratives designed to justify this killing. Don't believe it. Local officials who've seen the full video are calling bullshit. Witnesses are contradicting the federal story. Trust the community, not the state.
There was a vigil today at 5 p.m. at the site where Renee was killed. About 150 people gathered. A makeshift memorial has sprung up. If you're in Minneapolis, show up. Bear witness. Stand with the community. If you're not in Minneapolis, organize solidarity actions where you are.
Legal observers like Renee are essential because they create accountability. The state murdered her for doing that work, but we cannot stop. If you're able, get trained as a legal observer. Document ICE activity. Film raids. Create records that can't be disappeared or denied.
Governor Walz has put the National Guard on standby. Protests have already turned confrontational, with federal agents using pepper spray and tear gas on demonstrators. If you're going to actions, go with people you trust. Have a safety plan. Know your rights. Take care of each other.
6. Demand Investigation and Accountability
The FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are investigating. We know how these investigations usually go—agents cleared, no charges filed, business as usual. We cannot let that happen. Demand transparency. Demand the full video be released. Demand charges. Demand justice for Renee.
ICE violence in Minneapolis, military strikes on Venezuela, police murders, the expanding surveillance state—these are not separate issues. They're all manifestations of the same system: a state that uses violence to maintain power and control. Our resistance must be connected too.
Every act of mutual aid, every community defense network, every alternative institution we create makes us less dependent on the state and more able to protect ourselves. Build power in your community. Practice collective care. Create the structures that let us survive and resist.
If you work for ICE, DHS, or any agency participating in these operations, this is your moment to choose sides. Refuse. Resign. Leak. Obstruct. The Nuremberg defense—"I was just following orders"—didn't work then and it doesn't work now. You have a moral obligation to refuse complicity in state violence.
10. Prepare for What's Coming
Trump has made it clear this is just the beginning. More cities will be targeted. More communities will be terrorized. More people will be killed. We cannot be caught off guard every time. We need sustained organizing, not just reactive outrage. Build the networks now that will let us resist what's coming.
They want us afraid. They want us isolated. They want us to believe that resistance is futile, that fighting back makes us terrorists, that the state's violence is justified and ours is criminal.
But we've seen this before. We know how this goes. The state always claims self-defense after killing someone. The state always calls resistance terrorism. The state always demands we respect their authority while they disrespect our lives.
Renee Nicole Good didn't die because she was violent or threatening. She died because she was in the way. She died because the state cannot tolerate witnesses to its violence. She died because ICE operates with impunity and kills with immunity.
We honor her by refusing to be silent. We honor her by continuing the work she died doing. We honor her by building the world where federal agents can't murder people in the streets and call it law enforcement.
Rest in power, Renee. Your community won't forget you.
