ICE agent fatally shoots woman during immigration crackdown in Minneapolis
CBC
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown on a major American city — a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defence but that the city's mayor described as "reckless" and unnecessary.
The 37-year-old woman was shot in the head in front of a family member in a snowy residential neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about 1.6 kilometres from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
Her killing was recorded on video by witnesses, and the scene of the shooting quickly drew a large crowd of angry protesters. By evening, hundreds arrived for a vigil to mourn her death, and that crowd quickly grew to thousands.
The victim, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good, had a six-year old child, her mother and father-in-law told the Minnesota Star Tribune. Macklin Good described herself on social media as a "poet and writer and wife and mom" who was from Colorado.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during a visit to Texas, described the incident as an "act of domestic terrorism" carried out against ICE agents by a woman who "attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him."
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted that characterization and the federal deployment of more than 2,000 officers as part of the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust," Frey said.
"They're ripping families apart. They're sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people."
The mayor added: "They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit."
Frey had a blunt message for ICE agents: "Get the f--k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here."
In a social media post, U.S. President Donald Trump made similar accusations to Noem's against the woman and defended ICE's work.
Hours later, at an evening news conference in Minnesota, Noem didn't back down, claiming the woman was part of a "mob of agitators" and saying the officer followed his training.
She said the veteran officer who fired his gun had been rammed and dragged by an anti-ICE motorist in June.
"Any loss of life is a tragedy, and I think all of us can agree that in this situation, it was preventable," Noem said, adding that the FBI would investigate.
