Protests Erupt After US Immigration Agent Fatally Shoots Woman in Minneapolis

A 37-year-old woman has been shot dead by a US immigration agent in Minneapolis, triggering protests across the city and igniting debates over what really happened.

Renee Nicole Macklin Good was killed on Wednesday morning after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surrounded her SUV on a residential street south of downtown. Videos shared online show officers approaching the vehicle as it sat across the road, with one agent trying to open the driver’s door before shots were fired. The car then veered away and crashed into parked vehicles.

Federal officials say the shooting was an act of self-defence. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Good tried to “weaponise” her vehicle and described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism”. The Department of Homeland Security said an officer fired “defensive shots” after fearing for his life.

President Donald Trump backed that account of events, writing on Truth Social that the woman was “violently, willfully, and viciously” involved in the incident and blaming the “Radical Left” for targeting law enforcement.

However, city and state leaders strongly dispute those claims. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said the federal version of events did not match the video evidence. “They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bull****,” he said, later telling ICE officers to “get the f*** out” of the city.

Minnesota governor Tim Walz also rejected the federal narrative, writing: “Don't believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said there was no indication Good was the subject of any law enforcement investigation and confirmed she had been blocking the road when an officer approached her on foot and she began to drive away.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene. Emily Heller, who lives nearby, said the woman appeared to be trying to leave when she was shot. “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in – like, his midriff was on her bumper – and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times,” Heller said.

Good, a mother of three, was described by family members as compassionate and community-minded. The Minneapolis City Council said she had been “out caring for her neighbours” at the time she was killed.

The shooting happened about a mile from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020, and anger quickly spilled into the streets. Protesters gathered at the scene chanting “Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” Some demonstrations were met by heavily armed federal agents, and protests spread to other US cities.

Minneapolis Public Schools cancelled classes and activities for the rest of the week, citing safety concerns, after reports that federal agents had made arrests near schools.

The incident comes amid a major escalation of immigration enforcement in Minnesota. More than 2,000 federal agents have been deployed to the Minneapolis–St Paul area as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown, which has focused in part on the city’s Somali community. Trump has previously referred to Somali residents as “garbage” and said, “ I don’t want them in our country.”

The FBI is now investigating the shooting, as calls grow louder for accountability and for ICE to leave the city.