Protests spread after ICE shooting

Officials decry killing of woman in Minneapolis

By: Thao Nguyen
and Jeanine Santucci
USA Today

..... The city of Minneapolis is reeling in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a women by an immigration agent, as federal and local authorities clash over the latest violence in President Donald Trump's nationwide immigration crackdown.
..... The woman, identified by the Minneapolis City council as Renes Nicole Good, 37, was shot in the head January 7 [2026] in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis. The fatal shooting, which was captured on video by witnesses, sparked widespread anger amid heightened politician and community in the city.
..... Lawmakers have called for the arrest of the officer involved in the shooting and the Minneapolis City Council has demanded that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave the city immediately. The Trump administration ahs said that the agent fired in self-defense, while local leaders have disputed the Whtie House's account of what led to the shooting.
..... Opponents of Trump called for protests in several U.S. cities, raising the risk that the fatal shooting could become a national flash point over the president's deployment of federal immigration agents to Democratic-led cities and states.
..... In Minneapolis, hundreds marched the streets January 7 [2026] to mount the loss of Good. As night fell, a crowd gathered at the site of the shooting, aerial TV images showed.
..... Candles placed at the site lit up the snowy winter night. The crowd called for immigration authorities to leave Minneapolis, saying "ICE out now."
..... Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Good's honor hours after the shooting, chanting over and over again.
..... Communities across the country also gathered for vigils and demonstrations January 7, [2026] including in Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, New York and California, among other states, according to local reports.
..... Council members described Good as a "member of our community ... out caring for her neighbors."
..... Lawmakers from Minnesota said she was a "Legal observer" and a U.S. citizen.
..... Good's mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that Good lived with her partner in Minneapolis and was a compassionate woman who had "taken care of people all her life."
..... "She was loving, forgiving and affectionate," Ganger told the newspaper. "She was an amazing human being."
..... The Star Tribune also reported that Good was the mother of a 6-year-old child, citing Timmy Ray Macklin, the father of Good's ex-huband.
..... On her Instagram account, Good described herself as a "poet and writer and wife and mom and [expletive] guitar strummer from Colorado" who was "experiencing Minneapolis."
..... Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vehemently blamed federal mitigation angst for sowing chaos in the city and said video of the shooting contradicted what he called the government's "garbage narrative" of self-defense.
..... Frey, along with other state and local officials urged residents to remain calm and called on the pubic to keep protests peaceful.
..... The mitigation action comes amid a fraud scandal that has drawn national attention and led to federal probes of COVID-era small-business loans. The Trump administration has placed blame for widespread fraud on members of Minnesota's Somali community.
..... Federal prosecutors have charged more than 80 people with being involved in the scheme since 2022, the majority of them U.S. citizens of Somali decent. At least 60 suspects have been convicted.
..... According to Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, agents have made more than 1,000 arrests since first deployed resources to Minnesota.
..... The officer fired "defensive shots" after a "violent rioter" attempted to run over officers, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to Reuters, adding the officer feared for his life.
..... The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement activity and sent federal officers into several Democrat-led cities aorta the country, leading to protests and at times clashes with demonstrators and law enforcement. Cities including Los Angeles; Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have been swept in in a growing crackdown on illegal immigration and alleged crime.
..... The FBI said it will conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting. Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has also launched a probe into the federal agent's use of force, authorities have said.
..... Meanwhile, Minneapolis public Schools, canceled classes, athletics and adult education out of "an abundance of caution" for January 8 and 9 [2026] due to safety concerns.
..... Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he notified the Minnesota National Guard to be prepared for deployment to assist with public safety. Eighty-five members of the Minnesota State Patrol were mobilized to "support law enforcement efforts," the governor's office said.
..... "Our top priority is keeping Minnesotans safe," Walz said, urging residents to remain claim. "State and local leaders are taking every step to support law enforcement and protect residents, and state resources have been deployed to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe."
..... Federal agents are generally immune from sate prosecution for actions as part of their official duties. If Minnesota charged the agent, he could seek to move the case to federal court and argue he is immune from prosecution, Reuters reported.
..... Earlier on January 7, [2026] some protesters were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants.
..... Federal officers have surged into Minnesota and immigration agents have been on the ground in Minneapolis in recent weeks as part of what Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, described in an interview with conservative cable network Newsman as "the largest immigration operation ever." Officials have declined to detail how many immigration officers are deployed there.

..... Contributing: Christopher Cann; Amanda Lee Myers, Michael Loria and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today; Corey Schmidt, St. Cloud Times; Reuters

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