An officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed a woman during the Trump administrations' latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In Minneapolis today, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman while agents were conducting what ICE calls, quote, "targeted operations." Trump administration officials claim the agent feared for his life and fired in self-defense. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, is sharply disputing that. With us now from Minneapolis with the latest is reporter Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio. Hey, Matt.
MATT SEPIC, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hey. So the backdrop here, of course, is that ICE has been in Minneapolis numerous times last year, there again at the beginning of this year. Take us up to what happened this morning. What do we know?
SEPIC: Well, bystander video shows a maroon Honda SUV partly blocking Portland Avenue. This is a one-way street south of downtown Minneapolis. Federal agents are heard on one of these videos telling the driver, Ma'am, get out of the car. A video taken by another witness shows one federal officer walking along the right side of the car and around to the front. Moments later, two other agents walk to the driver's side. One tries to open the door. At this point, the driver begins to reverse slightly on the icy street. As an officer hangs on the door, the driver pulls forward and away from the scene, this is when an officer on the side of the SUV fires shots into the vehicle through the windshield. The driver was pronounced dead at a hospital.
City officials identified her today as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. At a news conference this afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said she was not the subject of any immigration actions. This incident comes as the Department of Homeland Security is stepping up immigration enforcement in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area with what the department says is 2,000 agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the area yesterday.
KELLY: OK, so we have laid out their conflicting accounts of what exactly happened and why today. Walk me through the Trump administration, what their account is because they are maintaining that the shooting was justified, correct?
SEPIC: Right. Trump administration officials immediately tried to take control of the narrative on social media. DHS called the woman a, quote, "violent rioter" who, quote, "weaponized her vehicle." The agency says the ICE agent fired in self-defense. President Donald Trump also posted on his website. He said the woman was obviously a professional agitator. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem flew back to Minneapolis this afternoon and spoke to reporters about the incident. She called any loss of life a tragedy, but she said this was preventable.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRISTI NOEM: It's very clear that this individual was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations. Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation and took actions to defend himself.
SEPIC: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, on the other hand, was clearly angry during an earlier news conference today. He called the ICE officer's actions reckless. He said Noem's version of events is not what happened.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JACOB FREY: Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is [expletive].
SEPIC: And using another expletive, Frey told ICE to get out of Minneapolis. He added that the Trump administration is trying to sow chaos and that he and other city leaders had feared exactly this outcome when ICE started its enforcement push here.
KELLY: OK, let's bring in a few other voices and what they are saying. We had Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara on the program live tonight. I know that he joined the mayor at the press conference today. What did he say there?
SEPIC: Well, he said the investigation is still underway both by the FBI and Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, state police. But he said that most law enforcement agencies train their officers to avoid situations like this where they wind up using deadly force.
KELLY: And what about Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz? What is he saying?
SEPIC: Well, he held his own news conference today. The Democrats said he is preparing to mobilize the state's National Guard. Walz called the administration's operations dangerous and sensationalized and a threat to public safety.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TIM WALZ: What we're seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict. It's governing by reality TV. And today, that recklessness cost someone their life.
SEPIC: And Governor Walz, like Mayor Frey, urged demonstrators to protest peacefully and not give the Trump administration the show that it is seeking.
KELLY: Matt Sepic with Minnesota Public Radio, thanks for your reporting.
SEPIC: You're welcome.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
