Woman killed in Minneapolis during immigration crackdown: All that happened

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday (local time) after she allegedly tried to run over law enforcement officers during an immigration crackdown in the city.

 

The ICE officer shot the woman while she was inside her vehicle. Videos circulated online showed the car crashed on a snow-covered neighbourhood street.

 

According to the Associated Press, the 37-year-old woman was shot in the head in a residential area in Minneapolis. She was killed in front of a family member, just a few blocks from long-established immigrant markets and about a mile from the site where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.

Who was Renee Nicole Macklin Good?

The victim was identified as Renee Nicole Macklin Good, mother to a 6-year-old. On social media, Macklin Good described herself as a "poet and writer and wife and mom".

What did Trump say?

US President Donald Trump defended the ICE officer, saying the woman "violently, willfully, and viciously" ran towards him, who seems to have shot her in self-defence.

 

In a post on Truth Social, he said, "I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense."

 

He urged the need to stand by and protect the law enforcement officers from the "Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!"

 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also backed the ICE officer, saying he fired fearing for his life and called the act an attempt to kill officers.

 

However, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rejected this claim, saying the officer acted "recklessly" and accused federal immigration raids of creating "fear, chaos and violence in the city".

Widespread protests in Minneapolis

Large protests broke out after the shooting, with thousands of people gathering at the spot to express anger at both local and federal officers.

 

Minneapolis and St Paul have been tense since the DHS announced the operation on Tuesday. Around 2,000 ICE agents and officers were expected to take part in the crackdown, which officials say is partly linked to alleged fraud involving some Somali residents.

 

Similar immigration crackdowns have been underway in states such as Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina and California, including in cities like Chicago, New Orleans and Los Angeles. These operations have led to hundreds of arrests and strong public backlash.

 

Scenes in Minneapolis were similar to those seen earlier in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bystanders shouted at officers, blew whistles and chanted slogans like “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” from behind police barriers.

 

(With inputs from agencies)