AOC condemns ICE as ‘anti-civilian paramilitary organisation’ following death of Renee Nicole Good 

New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, has warned US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now become an “anti-civilian, paramilitary organisation”, following the shooting and death of Renee Nicole Good.

Good, a 37-year old mother, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday (7 January), after the Department of Homeland Security deployed an estimated 2,000 ICE agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations to the Twin Cities area.

Video footage of the incident was captured from various angles by onlookers who were also protesting ICE’s presence in the city.

The footage shows an ICE agent attempting to pull the front door of Good’s car open as he demands she exit the vehicle, her car then reverses and drives forward, then a second ICE agent fires shots into the front window. The vehicle continues to drive forward at speed before crashing into stationary vehicles and coming to a halt.

According to an account of the events shared by the City of Minneapolis, she was subsequently transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she later died of her injuries.

Another video of the incident, taken after Good’s vehicle crashed, shows a woman who claims she is Good’s wife sitting on the snowy ground, sobbing and screaming, demanding someone help.

In response to her death, protests have been staged across the US and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey called on ICE to leave the city all-together.

“ICE — Get the f**k out of Minneapolis,” Frey said at a press conference. “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…

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

“An anti-civilian force that has no accountability”

Commenting on the situation, Ocasio-Cortez told news reporters that ICE is not just becoming an “anti-immigrant force” it is an “anti-civilian, paramilitary organisation”.

“People are getting taken off the streets for exercising their free speech rights,” she said.

“The president, himself, has asserted that in fact one of the reasons that this murder may have been ‘justified’ is on free speech grounds.

“So this is now turned into what our greatest fear is, and has been for a long time around ICE, that this will be used as an anti-civilian force that has no accountability.”

She also described the shooting as an “horrific act of violence” and added her “heart goes out” to Good’s family.

By contrast, the Trump administration has labelled Good a “domestic terrorist”, with Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem telling 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.”

As a result of Good’s death, there has been a spike in Google searches for the term “LGBTQ+ asylum Canada”, suggesting queer Americans are seeking a way of leaving the US via an asylum route.

The search spike is similar to an earlier surge in 2025 that first began to appear on 20 January, the day of Trump’s inauguration.