Hours after a 37-year-old woman was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, President Donald Trump defended the officer’s actions, framing the incident as a case of self-defense.
Speaking to a group of New York Times reporters in the Oval Office, Trump characterized the woman’s behavior as deliberate and violent. “She behaved horribly,” he said. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.”
Trump attempted to present video evidence to support his claim, with aide Natalie Harp bringing a laptop to the Resolute Desk to show what the president described as proof of the woman’s wrongdoing. While acknowledging the tragic nature of the shooting, Trump stressed the danger faced by ICE agents. “With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening,” he said. “It’s a terrible scene. I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”
In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump framed the shooting as part of a broader pattern of threats against ICE agents, blaming what he called the “Radical Left” for creating a climate of hostility.
“They (ICE agents) are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate,” he wrote.
The killing of Renee Good on Wednesday set off a clash between federal officials who insist the shooting was an act of self-defense and Minneapolis officials who dispute that narrative.
The woman was shot in her car in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos taken by bystanders and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped in the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.
The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer. The SUV then speeds into two cars parked on a curb nearby before coming to a stop. Witnesses can be heard shouting in shock.
Renee described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom” from Colorado. Calls and messages to her family were not immediately returned.
Public records show Good had recently lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where she and another woman with the same home address had started a business last year called B. Good Handywork.
In a video posted from the scene on social media, a woman who describes Good as her wife is seen sitting near the vehicle sobbing. She says the couple had only recently arrived in Minnesota and they have a 6-year-old child.
Her killing is at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown the Trump administration launched last year.
Minneapolis protesters vent their outrage
Minneapolis was on edge Thursday following the incident, with protesters venting their outrage, the governor demanding that the state take part in the investigation and schools canceling classes as a precaution.
State and local officials demanded that the immigration agents leave Minnesota . But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said agents won't be going anywhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area in what it says is its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. Noem said more than 1,500 people have already been arrested.
Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday outside of a federal building on the edge of Minneapolis that is serving as a major base for the immigration crackdown. They shouted “No More ICE,” “Go Home Nazis,” and other slogans as Border Patrol officers pushed them back from the gate, doused them with pepper spray and fired tear gas.
“We should be horrified," protester Shanta Hejmadi said. “We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens. We should get out and say no. What else can we do?”
(With inputs from AP)