US Politics
Are ICE agents allowed to shoot at moving cars?
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An ICE agent shot dead a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday morning, igniting a fierce debate between city officials and the Trump administration around the legality of the shooting.
Renee Nicole Good was killed at around 10.25 am, making her the fifth person to die in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The late 37-year-old had been blocking ICE agents with her car, with a video showing federal officers confronting her before opening fire.
The Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that the victim was engaged in “domestic terrorism,” although questions around the shooting continue to swirl.
Policies at the Department of Homeland Security prohibit ICE agents from discharging firearms to stop a moving vehicle, unless the victim is “threatening deadly force.”
However, a strict caveat in the rule requires agents to only open fire if there is “no other objectively reasonable means of defense is available.”
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Despite that, there is no obligation for officers to “retreat” when threatened, a federal judge in Chicago ruled recently, or to wait to be attacked first before responding.
DHS policy also exempts agents from going through a checklist of alternative steps before using force or from the obligation to meet force with equal or lesser force.
An eyewitness told Fox 9 that Good was simply trying to turn around and leave the area when she was shot through her driver’s side window.
“I saw the car parked in the road and then a bunch of ICE agents walking up, screaming at her to move, and then when she backed up and then started to turn away to move and to get out of their way, then one of jumped in front of the car, another guy tried to rip the door open and then someone yelled stop and then I heard gunshots,” local resident CJ Janeksela told the broadcaster.
Video footage of the shooting showed the vehicle parked in the middle of the road, completely stationary beside two agents.
Eventually, the car begins to pull away from the ICE agents, with one of the federal officers standing near the hood. In response, the ICE agent brandishes his gun and fires into the vehicle.
The car later comes to a stop.
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Noem told reporters on Wednesday that the agent “followed his training,” adding that he “feared for his life.”
Noem, a controversial figure in Washington, claimed that Good had disobeyed commands and had even attacked the officer with her vehicle.
During the conference, she failed to say whether the agent had been wearing a body camera, which would give a clearer timeline of the events leading to the shooting.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey shredded Noem’s claims, suggesting “they’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense.”
“That is bull****,” he said.
Continuing his profanity-filled criticism of the presence of federal agents in Minneapolis, he demanded that ICE agents “get the f*** out” of the city.
ICE agents had previously swarmed into the city as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has proven to be increasingly controversial.
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Good’s mother, Donna Granger, told The Minnesota Star-Tribune that her daughter had lived in the Twin Cities with her partner. Ganger also said that her daughter was “probably terrified” and that her killing by federal agents was “so stupid.”
“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She was extremely compassionate,” Ganger told The Star-Tribune. “She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.
“She was an amazing human being,” Ganger added.
According to the Star-Tribune, Good is survived by her son. Her son’s father died in 2023.
Her former father-in-law, Timmy Ray Macklin Sr, told the newspaper that the young child has “nobody else in his life” after the ICE shooting.
“I’ll drive. I’ll fly. To come and get my grandchild,” he said.