Minneapolis ICE Shooting

Renee Nicole Good was killed by a Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on January 7th, 2025. Good was a 37-year-old award winning poet, hobby guitarist, and mother of three who was near the Minneapolis ICE as a legal observer but was shot dead in her maroon Honda Pilot, among her son’s stuffed animals peeking out of the glove box. In her role as a legal observer, Good’s role was to monitor law enforcement’s interactions with civilians. She essentially was there to test that our democracy (in this case, the ICE officers) was truly upholding and following the law. She ended up being fatally shot at least three times in the head. ICE was expanded by the Trump administration to “track down, arrest, and deport immigrants,” but killed 32 people in 2025, marking ICE’s deadliest year. Renee Nicole Good was killed as a U.S. citizen by a portion of Homeland Security dedicated to combating the illegal movement of people or goods.

CNN described the murder scene as being whistle-filled on the chilly, snowy January morning. Good partially blocked traffic on the street as unmarked government vehicles drove around or stayed idle. Good fatefully came across a 10-year ICE agent named Jonathan Ross, who had a dangerous run-in with a driver months earlier that resulted in him being dragged by the vehicle. A video taken from Ross’s cellphone encountering Good in her vehicle provides the clearest insight into the tragic event. Good is seen sitting in her car with the window down and can be heard in the video saying, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” with Good’s wife adding from the sidewalk in the background, suggesting that Ross show his face. The officers ask Good repeatedly to get out of the car, finally stating, “Get out of the f***ing car.” Seemingly acting upon her fight or flight senses, Good backs up her car slightly then steers her wheel to avoid the officers. As the car starts to slowly drive forward, Ross can be heard exclaiming, “Whoa!” in the video before he opens fire with three consecutive gunshots, killing Good and proceeding to call her a "f***ing b*tch." A bystander identified himself as a physician and asked ICE officers if he could check Good’s pulse, to which the officer replied, “No, back up now! We don’t care!” A neighbor reported that it took at least fifteen minutes before an ambulance responded.

Controversy has been sparked since this shooting, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stating, “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying,” and demanding that ICE “get the f**k out of Minneapolis.” In addition, theguardian.com reported that “Several attorneys in the US justice department’s civil rights division have reportedly resigned in protest at a decision not to investigate the fatal shooting of an unarmed U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis,” illustrating the controversy of this shooting. Furthermore, CNN has also reported that the states of Minneapolis and Illinois have decided to sue Trump as the administration sends more agents to Minneapolis after the ICE shooting. Ultimately, the ICE shooting in Minneapolis has further separated our already politically polarized country.