Renee Nicole Good was reportedly a devoted Christian, who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger Photo: AFP / Charly Triballeau
By Michael Williams for CNN
The fatal shooting of a US citizen by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday could become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in American cities.
Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot while seated in the driver's seat of her car. The Department of Homeland Security described her as a "rioter" who was obstructing and attempting to use her vehicle against officers enforcing immigration laws.
However, three videos taken of the scene and reviewed by CNN show nuance.
Good's killing prompted outrage on the part of state and local officials, who said a violent incident like this was exactly what they feared, when the rush of federal resources into the 'Twin Cities' began in December.
After the shooting, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he had been "warning for weeks" that ICE operations in his state were a "threat to public safety". Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey bluntly told ICE to "get the f**k out" of his city.
Here's what we know about the shooting that killed Good, what preceded it and its aftermath.
The shooting took place during what DHS described as its largest operation ever
The immigration-enforcement operation in Minneapolis was prompted, in part, by a conservative content creator's viral video describing alleged fraud across Minneapolis day care centres. That came as Trump spent months expressing animus against Somali Americans, referring to them as "garbage" in xenophobic screeds.
Minneapolis hosts the largest diaspora of Somalis in the US.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, surged law enforcement up to about 2000 immigration-enforcement officers by January, during an manoeuvre it named 'Operation Metro Surge'.
The agency described the surge as the "largest DHS operation ever" and said it had resulted in the arrests of hundreds of immigrants.
"We're not leaving until the problem is solved," the agency said in a social media post, before the shooting.
The Minneapolis surge followed other operations in large cities, mostly led by Democrats, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland and Washington DC.
While DHS claimed it was going after the "worst of the worst" people with violent convictions or criminal records, CNN had previously reported that the agency had detained American citizens or people without criminal records, and had often used force against people who were protesting their presence.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was "not opposed to sending more" immigration authorities to Minneapolis following the shooting.
Footage from several angles captured Good's killing
At least three videos captured Good's shooting or its immediate aftermath.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agent had more than 10 years of experience as an ICE deportation officer. Photo: AFP / KEREM YUCEL
In one video posted online, Good could be seen in her car - a maroon Honda Pilot - which is perpendicular in the middle of the street. Several unmarked law enforcement vehicles approached Good's car, one passed in front of her and Good waved her hand out of the window.
Two officers got out of their truck and approached the driver's side of Good's car.
"Get out of the car," the officers could be heard repeatedly saying. "Get out of the f**king car."
Good's car began reversing, while one of the officers reached toward her driver's side door handle. Her car briefly stopped and then moved forward.
Meanwhile, a third officer, who appeared to have been filming the scene, appeared at the front of Good's car. That officer pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Good, while moving away from the front of the car.
A grainy video from a different angle, obtained and reviewed by CNN, seemed to show Good's car making contact with the third officer, while turning away from the other two.
Footage showed that the third officer then fired one shot, before firing two more while out of the vehicle's path, footage shows. Good's car accelerated forward, before crashing into another parked car.
Videos showed bystanders rushing to the shooting victim. The officer who opened fire moved toward the car, before walking away and telling bystanders to call 911.
DHS immediately called the shooting victim a , before a clear picture emerged
Almost immediately after the shooting took place, DHS described Good as having committed "an act of domestic terrorism".
"They were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle," said Noem shortly after the shooting took place.
On X, DHS described Good as among a group of "violent rioters", adding that the officer who shot Good, who has not been identified, "used his training, and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers".
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agent had more than 10 years of experience as an ICE deportation officer and was on the agency's Special Response Team, which required 30 hours of tryouts to be considered.
McLaughlin did not say how long the agent had been on the Special Response Team.
A senior Homeland Security official told CNN that DHS would investigate the shooting and that, in every use-of-force incident, "there are standard protocols followed and there is no exception to that here".
Shooting victim was mother of three
Good was a poet, mother and partner, whose killing has shocked her family.
"Renee was one of the kindest people I've ever known," mother Donna Ganger told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "She was extremely compassionate.
"She's taken care of people all her life… she was loving, forgiving and affectionate."
She was born in Colorado, moved to Minnesota last year and lived in the Twin Cities with her partner, the Star Tribune reported, citing Ganger.
The Associated Press reported that Good was a mother to three children. The eldest, aged 15 and 12, were from her first marriage.
She also had a six-year-old child, whose father died in 2023, according to the Star Tribune.
After spending most of her life in Colorado, Good briefly moved to Kansas to live with her parents for a time, after her husband - a military veteran - died, father Tim Ganger, told The Washington Post.
She was a devoted Christian, who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger, her ex-husband told the AP.
The scene of Good's death became a vigil later Wednesday.
- CNN
