A US immigration agent has shot dead a 37-year-old woman in the Minnesota city of Minneapolis, sparking large-scale protests. Renee Nicole Good, was fired upon at point blank range as she drove away from officials, who had tried to get her to open the door of her SUV. 

Video of the shooting appears to show the driver reverse and then pull forward before an officer apparently acting on behalf of ICE – the federal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency – unloads at least two shots through the vehicle’s window.

The car can then be seen losing control and crashing into parked traffic a few yards down the street, as the official responsible calmly walks away.

The mother of three had not long moved to the city and was a prize-winning poet and a hobby guitarist, believed to be at the location simply as a legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities.

However, the Trump administration has called her a “domestic terrorist” and the president himself is quoted as saying on his Truth Social site: “The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting and she then violently, wilfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer who seems to have shot her in self-defence.”

That version of events does NOT appear to be backed up by the video evidence and in total contrast at a news conference, the Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey used an expletive to dismiss that claim, stating: “They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence; having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bull***t.”

This shocking incident occurred in a residential neighbourhood south of down-town Minneapolis, just a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020, sparking global outrange.

Part of crackdown

Hundreds of ICE agents have been deployed to Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, as part of the White House’s crackdown on illegal immigration. They are responsible for homeland security investigations and removal operations against people the US decides are in the country illegally.

In recent weeks the Trump administration deployed an additional 2,000 federal agents to communities in the Minneapolis area in response to allegations of welfare fraud in the state.

One particular community (Somalians) has been criticised frequently by Trump, who has called them “garbage” and added: “I don’t want them in our country, their country stinks.” 

White House accusations

Ms Good was a member of the local community, and was a US citizen, originally from Colorado Springs, having moved to Minneapolis just last year from Kansas City.

However, White House officials, insist that she was not simply observing, but also interfering in the officers’ work. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good had been “stalking and impeding their work” all day by “blocking them in” with her car and “shouting at them”.

She then – according to Ms Noem – “weaponised her vehicle” and “tried to run over one of the officers” in an attempt to “kill or cause bodily harm to agents, in an act of domestic terrorism. An ICE agent feared for his life and as a result he fired defensive shots”. 

President’s version contradicts footage

The president called her a “professional agitator” and remarkably claimed it was “hard to believe” the agent was alive, adding the individual in question was “now recovering in the hospital,” despite all footage showing that the vehicle did not strike him.

Witness gives descriptive account

Indeed from various vantage points, a maroon SUV can be seen initially blocking a residential street and witness Emily Heller confirmed that she saw the ICE agents shouting at the female driver with one of the agents trying to open her car door. 

She then added: “The driver went into reverse and began pulling away. Then an ICE agent stepped in front of her vehicle telling her to stop before another agent reached across the hood and fired his weapon about three or four times and shot her in the face.”

Second witness dismisses government version

A second witness, Aidan Perzana, 31, said that he saw the incident clearly and that it didn’t look like the woman was trying to run over an agent. “I heard that Noem is trying to say they were trying to run down an officer.

“There was plenty of space between the officers at that point for the vehicle to make it through,” adding that it looked as though the driver was simply trying to flee the vicinity.

Accountability to be ensured

Minnesota State Governor Tim Walz also pushed back on federal accounts of the incident. “Don’t believe this propaganda machine, the state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

“Amazing human being”

Ms Good‘s mother Donna Ganger, understandably distraught, commented that her daughter was “probably terrified” during the confrontation with officers and let it be known that she was “one of the kindest people I’ve ever known, taking care of people all her life. 

“She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

Protests and marches took place all over Minneapolis as some outraged residents condemned the shooting and called for ICE to leave their city.