Everything we know about the shooting of Renee Good by ICE

Renee Nicole Good – a 37-year-old mother, wife and US citizen – was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, sparking conflicting narratives between local and federal lawmakers, protests and condemnation. This is everything we know so far.

What happened?

The shooting took place on East 34th Street and Portland Avenue in the Central neighbourhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday (7 January) and came after the Department of Homeland Security deployed an estimated 2,000 ICE agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations to the Twin Cities area.

Various videos shared online after the shooting show an ICE officer confronting Good in her vehicle before firing several shots at the car as it attempted drive off.

In the videos, Good’s car – a burgundy-coloured Honda Pilot – can be seen parked in such a way as to block access to the road. A second vehicle, a grey truck, pulls up next to it and two ICE agents exit and demand those in it “get out of the f****** car”, as one officer attempts to open the car’s front door.

As the officer tries to pull the door open, the vehicle reverses before beginning to drive forward when a second ICE agent – standing in front of the car – pulls his weapon out and fires shots into the front windscreen.

The car continues to move forward before crashing into stationary vehicles parked alongside the road.

In subsequent footage circulating on social media, Good’s body can be seen slumped in the drivers seat of the car, covered in blood, with an equally bloody air bag visibly detonated.

A woman, who claims she is Good’s wife, is filmed sitting on the snowy ground, sobbing and screaming alongside a pet dog.

According to an account of the events shared by the City of Minneapolis, firefighters removed Good from the vehicle and immediately began lifesaving measures until paramedics could respond. She was subsequently transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she later died of her injuries.

In the different videos, neighbours of Good can be heard demanding immediate medical care for Good as ICE agents urged members of the public to move away from the scene.

“Can I go check her pulse,” one person asked.

“No!” an ICE agent responded. “Back up! Now!”

“I’m a physician!” the individual replied.

“I don’t care!” the ICE agent insisted.

ICE agents can be heard insisting their own medical professionals were on the way, to which members of the public can be heard asking: “Where are they!”

“How can I relax?!” one individual states in response to an officer. “You just shot my neighbour!”

Who is Renee Nicole Good?

Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old and died just a few streets away from her home, according to reporting by the Minnesota Star Tribune – which spoke with her mother.

Good had been married to Timmy Ray Macklin Jr., who died in 2023 at the age of 36, and had been currently living with her wife in Minneapolis alongside her six-year-old son. Good also reportedly has two other children, who live with extended family members.

Donna Ganger, Good’s mother, told the outlet she had been notified of her daughter’s death late Wednesday morning and said the fact she was killed was “so stupid”.

“She was probably terrified,” Ganger said, adding her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all” in reference to the protests against ICE.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” she went on to say. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

A private Instagram account that appears to belong to Good, the profile picture which appears to show several photographs of Good and her wife, describes her as “poet and writer and wife and mom and s****** guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN”. A Pride flag emoji is also included in the bio.

Commenting on the situation, Timmy Ray Macklin Sr – Macklin’s father – said he was shocked to hear the news of her death.

“There’s nobody else in his life,” Macklin said of Good’s six-year-old child. “I’ll drive. I’ll fly. To come and get my grandchild.”

Tributes and protest in honour of Good

Following Good’s death, tributes poured in from those who knew her and vigils have been held in her honour, both in Minneapolis and in other cities around the US.

Megan Kocher shared on social media she had recently met Good and her wife a few weeks prior and described her as a “warm and loving mother”.

“She fed me tea and cookies at her house while we talked about school stuff,” Kocher said.

“This is tragic beyond words.”

At a vigil held just hours after her death, civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong said: “When I think about Renee, all I can do is salute [her].

“She’s a warrior, as far as I’m concerned. She did not deserve to be gunned down in cold blood for standing up for her neighbour,” Armstrong said, as quoted by MPR News.

Abdul Karim, another attendee at the vigil and who is Somali-American, said in wanted to show up and honour Good because she died “defending my community”.

Minneapolis’s Democrat mayor Jacob Frey also offered his condolences to Good’s family, stating: “To the family of the person who was killed – we are deeply sorry.

“There are no words that can make this moment better. Our hearts are with you.”

In a statement, the president of Good’s alma mater Old Dominion University, Brian O. Hemphill, said Good’s loss was one of “great sadness”.

Hemphill describe Good as “a proud Monarch who graduated in December of 2020 from the College of Arts and Letters with a degree in English”. 

“Following Renee’s tragic killing earlier today in Minneapolis, our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, loved ones, and the Monarch Nation,” the college president went on to state.

“This is yet another clear example that fear and violence have sadly become commonplace in our nation. Indeed, this tragedy reflects the deep strain being felt in countless communities across our nation,” Hemphill continued.

“As citizens, it is our duty and right to call upon leaders and officials to restore civility in all facets of our lives, especially at the hands of those who are entrusted to protect and serve.

“May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love, and peace. My hope is for compassion, healing, and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history.”

Trump administration labels Good a “domestic terrorist”

In the wake of the shooting, the Trump administration was quick to label the incident “domestic terrorism” and accused Good of “stalking and impeding”, using her vehicle as a weapon in an to attempt to injure or kill ICE officers.

Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News: “It was an act of domestic terrorism. ICE Officers got stuck in the snow. They were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them, and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over.”

On his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump described Good as a “professional agitator” and claimed she was “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting” and “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer” who Trump said acted in self defence.

“Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive,” the president went on to write.

“The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis.”

Minneapolis mayor tells ICE “get the f*** out”

In response to the shooting, Frey condemned ICE’s operation in the city and told them to leave.

“ICE — Get the f*** out of Minneapolis,” Frey said. “We do not want you here. Your stated purpose for being in this City is to create some kind of safety, but you are doing exactly the opposite.”

“People are being hurt, families are being ripped apart, long-term Minneapolis residents who have contributed greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy are being terrorized and now, someone is dead,” he said.

“That’s on you. It’s also on you to leave. It’s on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury is not done.

“We will pursue justice — and we will do so as quickly as possible.”

Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate at the last election and announced this week he would not seek re-election as governor, said at a press conference that he feels Minnesotans’ anger over Good’s killing and described the incident as “totally predictable” and “totally avoidable”.

Walz went on to say the state’s National Guard was prepared to deploy if necessary.

“Donald Trump and his administration may not care much about Minnesota — that’s been pretty evident — but we love this state,” he said. “We won’t let them tear us apart. We will not turn against each other.”

Walz continued: “From here on, I have a very simple message: We do not need any further help from the federal government.

“To Donald Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough.”