A fatal shooting and competing accounts
A federal immigration officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, in Minneapolis on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Family members identified the woman as Good, and the incident was captured on cellphone video, the report said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking at a news conference, described the episode as an “act of domestic terrorism” and said the agent’s actions were justified. She said the officer followed his training, did exactly what he was taught to do, and took actions to defend himself and defend fellow law enforcement officers.
Noem also alleged that the woman used her vehicle to block officers, harassed them through the day, and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over” before she was shot. The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, she said.
The Associated Press reported that the vehicle can be seen in the videos crashing into two parked cars before coming to a stop. The report said it was unclear from the video if the vehicle made contact with the officer before he stepped to the side.
Why vehicle-shooting rules are controversial
The Minneapolis case has thrust a long-running and deeply contested question back into the national spotlight: when is a law enforcement officer justified in using lethal force against someone in a moving vehicle. Many police departments, the Associated Press reported, limit when officers may fire at moving vehicles, generally barring gunfire at fleeing cars unless the driver poses an imminent threat of deadly force beyond the vehicle itself.
The report traced some of those restrictions to earlier policy shifts after deadly incidents. It said the New York City Police Department was among the first departments to adopt limits after a 1972 shooting killed a 10-year-old passenger in a stolen car and sparked protests. The NYPD barred officers from firing at or from moving vehicles after that incident, according to the Associated Press.
The report said researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s found that policies like those helped reduce bystanders being struck by police gunfire and led to fewer deaths in police shootings. Over time, policing organizations including the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommended similar limits, warning that shooting at vehicles creates serious risks, including stray gunfire or a vehicle crash if a driver is hit.
Federal guidance on when deadly force can be used
Federal law enforcement officers, the Associated Press reported, operate under similar guidance. The Department of Justice’s Justice Manual says firearms should not be used simply to disable a moving vehicle, the report said.
The policy permits deadly force only in limited circumstances, the report said—such as when someone in the vehicle threatens another person with deadly force, or when the vehicle itself is being used in a way that poses an imminent risk and no reasonable alternative exists, including moving out of the vehicle’s path. The Associated Press framed the Minneapolis shooting as testing those boundaries.
Multiple investigations likely will be needed
Criminology professor Geoffrey Alpert said officials should take a step back before making pronouncements, the Associated Press reported. He said officials should conduct “two thorough parallel investigations,” first through ICE officials investigating administratively whether the agent violated policy or training, and then through state officials conducting a criminal investigation as well.
Alpert said the determination of whether the use of force was justified or criminal would depend on details that have not been disclosed publicly, according to the report.
Federal enforcement in Minnesota and the broader pattern
The Associated Press said the killing occurred as Homeland Security escalates immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota by deploying 2,000 agents and officers. It said the Minneapolis incident is among a growing number of violent encounters between ICE agents and community members and is at least the fifth fatality.
The report pointed to a prior case in October involving a Chicago woman, Marimar Martinez, who survived after being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent. It said Homeland Security officials labeled her a “domestic terrorist” and described her as having “ambushed” and “rammed” agents with her vehicle.
In that case, the Associated Press reported, Martinez was charged with assaulting a federal officer, but federal prosecutors later dismissed the case after security camera video and body camera footage emerged showing a Border Patrol agent steering his vehicle into Martinez’s truck.
Training experts say rules must be matched with judgment
The Associated Press reported that policies restricting shootings at moving vehicles have been sharpened by high-profile incidents, including a 2023 shooting in Ohio in which an officer fired through a car’s windshield while investigating a shoplifting allegation. The report said the pregnant driver died, and that the officer was later charged and acquitted.
John P. Gross, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Law who has written about officers shooting at moving vehicles, told the Associated Press that officers may be entitled to arrest a driver but are not entitled to use deadly force to arrest her. He said: “If this woman was blocking the street and a law enforcement operation, they are entitled to arrest her. What they are not entitled to do is to use deadly force to arrest her,” and added, “From just watching the video, this seems like an egregious example.”
Gross said officers need to consider the totality of a situation, the crime or allegation being made, whether the person can be found later, and whether the person is an actual danger, the Associated Press reported. He also noted that Minnesota passed a revision to its use-of-force statutes that requires clearly identified and immediate threats and makes it easier for prosecutors to file state charges for excessive force.
Could the ICE agent face criminal charges?
The Associated Press said it is far too early to know whether the ICE officer could face criminal charges. It said multiple investigations are ongoing, including by the FBI, and that prosecutors have said no decisions will be made until those inquiries are complete.
The report said federal law enforcement officers have broad legal protections when acting in the course of their official duties, and that the Justice Department has taken a hard line against state efforts to arrest or prosecute federal agents. It cited Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who the Associated Press said said late last year that arrests of federal officers performing their duties would be “illegal and futile,” pointing to the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and federal law.
Legal experts told the Associated Press that those protections are significant but not absolute, and that federal agents can still face criminal liability if prosecutors determine they acted unlawfully or outside their authority.
Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, told the Associated Press that investigators are still gathering facts and that charging decisions would come later, if at all. He said: “The bottom line is yes, we have jurisdiction.”