Minneapolis protests erupt over ICE killing of Renee Good as Portland shooting draws scrutiny

Good’s death, described as at least the fifth tied to federal immigration sweeps since President Donald Trump took office, has drawn protests in cities across the United States and thrust the administration’s enforcement methods into a widening national debate over oversight and accountability.

MINNEAPOLIS — Hundreds of people marched through Minneapolis in freezing rain Thursday night, chanting “ICE out now” and holding signs that read “killer ice off our streets,” after a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Good, 37, a mother of three, the day before. A second shooting by federal agents outside a Portland, Oregon, hospital left two people wounded and drew calls from the city’s mayor and council to suspend all ICE operations there pending an investigation.

The shootings came during what the Department of Homeland Security described as the largest immigration enforcement operation in history. More than 2,000 officers have been deployed to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the operation has produced more than 1,500 arrests.

“We should be horrified,” said protester Shanta Hejmadi. “We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens.”

State investigators shut out

Minnesota’s lead criminal-investigation agency said Thursday it had been effectively removed from the probe into Good’s death after the FBI and the Justice Department declined to work with it.

“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” said Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Gov. Tim Walz demanded that the state be permitted to participate, saying it would be “very difficult for Minnesotans” to accept an investigation that excluded state authorities. Noem, he said, was “judge, jury and basically executioner” in her public characterizations of the case.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told the Associated Press: “We want to make sure that there is a check on this administration to ensure that this investigation is done for justice, not for the sake of a cover-up.”

Administration defends officers; local officials dispute the account

Noem, President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance each characterized Good’s shooting as an act of self-defense. Vance said the shooting was justified and called Good a “victim of left-wing ideology.”

“I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it is a tragedy of her own making,” Vance said.

Frey rejected that characterization, saying video recordings show the self-defense argument is “garbage.”

Several bystanders captured footage of the encounter, which took place in a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis. The recordings show an officer approaching Good’s Honda Pilot SUV, which had stopped across the middle of a road, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. The SUV began to pull forward, and a second ICE officer standing in front of it drew his weapon and fired at least two shots at close range. It is not clear from the videos whether the vehicle made contact with that officer before he fired. After the shooting, the SUV traveled into two parked cars and came to a stop.

A second shooting in Portland

The Portland shooting took place outside a hospital in the afternoon. A man and a woman were shot inside a vehicle; their conditions were not immediately known. The FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice were investigating.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and the city council called on ICE to end all operations in the city until a full investigation is completed.

As it had following the Minneapolis shooting, DHS defended the agents involved, saying the Portland incident occurred after a Venezuelan man with alleged gang ties who was involved in a recent shooting tried to “weaponize” his vehicle to hit the officers. It was not yet clear whether witness video corroborated that account.

Officer identified in records

Records obtained by the Associated Press identify the ICE officer who fatally shot Good as Jonathan Ross, 43, an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and ICE. Noem did not publicly name him, but a DHS spokesperson said her references to a prior injury referred to a June incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, in which court documents identify him as Ross.

In that incident, court records show Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle whose driver was fleeing an immigration arrest. He was dragged roughly 100 yards before being knocked free. A jury later found the driver guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

Attempts by the Associated Press to reach Ross by phone and email were not successful.

Operation and context

Good’s death — described as at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since Trump took office — provoked an immediate reaction in the city where Minneapolis police killed George Floyd in 2020. Hundreds of people gathered at the scene on Wednesday, and the Minneapolis school district canceled classes for the rest of the week as a precaution.

Protesters blocked the street where Good was shot with makeshift barricades. Fires burned in metal drums to keep visitors warm while people gave out coffee and water through the night.

Good’s shooting and the protests it has prompted spread to many large U.S. cities, where demonstrations took place or were expected throughout the week.