Woman Killed By ICE Agent In Minneapolis: What We Know
Amid rising tensions over immigration crackdowns, Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen and mother, was shot and killed by an ICE agent while driving away on a Minneapolis street.
Featured Image: A memorial for Renee Nicole Good on January 07, 2026 in Minneapolis, MN. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Trigger Warning: Content contains descriptions of violence
On Wednesday, January 7, on a street in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman, Renee Nicole Good, was shot and killed by a masked ICE agent during an immigration crackdown. A key witness, Emily Heller, took video footage and spoke with outlets yesterday including CNN and MS NOW, stating that the victim was shot in the face multiple times, and that she saw a car blocking traffic that appeared to be part of a protest against the ICE operation. She heard an agent telling the driver to “get out of here.” “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in – like his midriff was on her bumper – and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times,” Heller told Minneapolis public radio station, MPR News.
In the immediate aftermath, reports began to emerge that Renee Nicole Good had a wife who could be heard in the background, as recorded on video: “I made her come down here, it’s my fault,” the woman sobs. “They just shot my wife.”
Major outlets have now confirmed: Good is a U.S. citizen, a mother of a 6-year-old child, and kept stuffed animals in the glove compartment of her vehicle – a Honda Pilot SUV that was left with a bloodied driver-side air bag after the fatal incident.
Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, identified the victim and spoke with the Minnesota Star Tribune – an early source from which other major news outlets took their cue. Ganger said her daughter had been living in the Twin Cities with her partner. She told MST that her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all,” referring to people protesting the presence of ICE in Minnesota. “Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known… 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.”
Good died just a few blocks from where she lived. The location is within a mile of where George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in 2020.
Since more details have emerged about the identity and life of the victim, the internet has lit up in solidarity with a single message: “Say her name: Renee Nicole Good.”
On Instagram, Good had described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom and shitty guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN.”
According to MST, she was previously married to Timmy Ray Macklin Jr., who died in 2023 at the age of 36, with whom she had a child. The father of her former husband told MST that she had two additional children with Macklin, who now live with extended family. Good had studied at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA where she was noted for her poetry, as well as a podcast that she hosted with her former husband.
Following the shooting, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of “domestic terrorism” – despite video and witness accounts that contradicted that assertion. Minneapolis officials spoke up. “Having seen the video … myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bulls**t,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded. Frey also told ICE, “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”
On social media, Trump blamed the “Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!” and stated that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer.” While a full investigation has yet to be conducted, multiple videos from multiple angles – as commented upon by experts on major news outlets – strongly indicate otherwise. Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, said in a press conference yesterday, “Our administration is going to stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice.”
Vigils ensued into the night. Images of thousands of peaceful marchers, many holding candles that dotted the darkness, swept over airwaves across the world, as crowds gathered to mourn the loss of a Minnesota woman to horrific violence at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
