MINNEAPOLIS — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis driver on Wednesday during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, AP reported. Federal officials said the shooting was an act of self-defense, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described it as reckless and unnecessary.
AP reported that the woman, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good, was shot in the head in front of a family member in a snowy residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis. The killing happened after 9:30 a.m., and witnesses recorded it on video, AP said.
The incident quickly drew crowds. By evening, hundreds gathered for a vigil to mourn Macklin Good and urge the public to resist immigration enforcers, AP reported. AP also described videos posted by bystanders as showing an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. Other footage, AP said, showed an ICE officer pulling his weapon and immediately firing at least two shots into the vehicle at close range as the SUV moved toward him.
AP reported that it was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. AP also said there was no indication, from the start of the videos, whether the woman had interactions with ICE officers before the footage began. After the shooting, AP said the SUV sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop.
Federal Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference in Minneapolis Wednesday evening that “Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he’s been taught to do in that situation,” AP reported. She also described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” and said a woman “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle,” adding that an officer “acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
Noem’s account drew pushback from Mayor Frey. Frey criticized the federal deployment of more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the immigration crackdown, AP reported, and said the federal approach was “causing chaos and distrust.” Frey also criticized federal officials for describing the shooting as self-defense and told residents that, after seeing the video, “that is bullshit,” AP reported.
The shooting was also described by AP as part of a wider escalation tied to the administration’s immigration enforcement operations in major cities. AP said the Minneapolis killing was at least the fifth death linked to immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration. The Twin Cities had been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it launched the operation, AP reported, and Noem said federal officials had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary and described the killing as “predictable” and “avoidable,” AP reported. Walz, AP said, also urged people to keep protests peaceful. Minneapolis Public Schools canceled school, sports and activities for Thursday and Friday, citing safety concerns related to incidents around the city, AP reported.
State and local officials said they would look into the incident while protesters and advocates demanded accountability. Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities, AP reported, and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara briefly described the shooting without indicating the driver was trying to harm anyone. AP reported that social media calls also urged prosecution of the officer who shot the driver.
AP reported that U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar called the killing “state violence” and that the area of the incident was in Omar’s congressional district. For nearly a year before the crackdown, AP said, migrant rights advocates and neighborhood activists in the Twin Cities had been preparing to mobilize in the event of an enforcement surge, including building online networks, scanning for possible federal vehicles and buying whistles to alert neighborhoods of enforcement activity.
The shooting followed a briefing from federal officials and the release of videos from multiple vantage points, leaving questions about key details still unresolved, AP reported.