An immigration and enforcement officer shoots and kills a woman in Minneapolis : NPR

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Today in Minneapolis, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman while agents were conducting what ICE calls, quote, “targeted operations.” Trump administration officials say the agent feared for his life and fired in self-defense. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, strongly disputes that assertion. Joining us now from Minneapolis with the latest, reporter Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio. Hi, Matt.

MATT SEPIC, BYLINE: Hello, Mary Louise.

KELLY: Hey. The backdrop here, of course, is that ICE visited Minneapolis several times last year, and again earlier this year. Tell us what happened this morning. What do we know?

SEPIC: Well, bystander video shows a brown Honda SUV partially blocking Portland Avenue. It is a one-way street south of downtown Minneapolis. Federal agents are heard in one of these videos telling the driver, Madam, to get out of the car. Video taken by another witness shows a federal agent walking along the right side of the car and toward the front. Moments later, two other officers walked toward the driver’s side. We try to open the door. At this point, the driver begins to back up slightly on the icy street. As an officer hangs on to the door, the driver walks forward and away from the scene, which is when an officer on the side of the SUV fires shots into the vehicle through the windshield. The driver was pronounced dead at hospital.

City officials identified her today as 37-year-old Renée Nicole Good. At a news conference this afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said she had not been subject to any immigration enforcement. The incident comes as the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up immigration enforcement in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area with what the department estimates are 2,000 agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the site yesterday.

KELLY: OK, so we’ve laid out their conflicting accounts of what exactly happened and why today. Walk me through the Trump administration, what their narrative is because they argue that the shooting was justified, right?

SEPIC: That’s true. Trump administration officials immediately attempted to take control of the discourse 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 this information on his website. He said the woman was clearly a professional agitator. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem returned to Minneapolis this afternoon and spoke to reporters about the incident. She called any loss of life a tragedy, but said it was preventable.

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KRISTI NOEM: It is very clear that this individual was harassing and obstructing law enforcement operations. Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he was taught to do in this situation, and took steps to defend himself.

SEPIC: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, on the other hand, was clearly angry at an earlier press conference today. He called the ICE officer’s actions reckless. He said Noem’s version of events didn’t match what happened.

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JACOB FREY: After seeing the video for myself, I want to tell everyone directly, i.e. [expletive].

SEPIC: And using another expletive, Frey told ICE to leave Minneapolis. He added that the Trump administration is trying to sow chaos and that he and other city leaders feared exactly that outcome when ICE began its enforcement efforts here.

KELLY: OK, let’s bring in some other voices and what they’re saying. We had Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara on the live show tonight. I know he joined the mayor at the press conference today. What did he say there?

SEPIC: Well, he said the investigation is still ongoing by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state police. But he added that most law enforcement agencies train their officers to avoid situations like this where they end up using deadly force.

KELLY: And what about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz? What does he say?

SEPIC: Well, he held his own press conference today. Democrats said he was preparing to mobilize the state’s National Guard. Walz called the administration’s operations dangerous and sensationalist and a threat to public safety.

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TIM WALZ: What we’re seeing are the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict. Reality TV rules. And today, this recklessness cost someone their life.

SEPIC: And Governor Walz, like Mayor Frey, urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully and not give the Trump administration the spectacle it’s looking for.

KELLY: Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio, thank you for your reporting.

SEPIC: You’re welcome.

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