As anger and outrage spilled out onto Minneapolis’s streets Thursday over the fatal shooting of a woman the day before by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, a new shooting by federal officers in Oregon left two people wounded and elicited more scrutiny of enforcement operations across the country.
Hundreds of people protesting the shooting of Renee Nicole Macklin Good as she tried to drive away marched in freezing rain Thursday night down one of Minneapolis’s major thoroughfares, chanting “ICE out now” and holding signs saying, “killer ice off our streets.” Protesters earlier vented their outrage outside of a federal facility that’s serving as a hub for the administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major city.
The shooting in Portland, Ore., took place outside a hospital Thursday afternoon, and the conditions of the two people wounded were not immediately known. The FBI’s Portland office said it is investigating.
A damaged car is seen as police work the scene in Portland, Ore., Thursday.Jenny Kane/The Associated Press
Authorities said on Thursday that a U.S. immigration agent shot and wounded a man and woman, in Portland, Ore. (Jan. 8)
Reuters
Just as it did after the Minneapolis shooting, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended the actions of the officers in Portland, saying the shooting occurred after a Venezuelan man with alleged gang ties and who was involved in a recent shooting tried to “weaponize” his vehicle to hit the officers. It wasn’t clear yet if witness video corroborates that account.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly characterized the Minneapolis shooting as an act of self-defence and cast Ms. Macklin Good as a villain, suggesting she used her vehicle as a weapon to attack the officer who shot her.
Minneapolis woman killed by ICE agent was a mother of 3 new to the city
Vice-President JD Vance said the shooting was justified and that Ms. Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was a “victim of left-wing ideology.”
“I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it is a tragedy of her own making,” Mr. Vance said, noting that the officer who killed her was injured while making an arrest last June.
But state and local officials and protesters rejected that characterization, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying video of the shooting shows the self-defence argument was “garbage.”
People gather on Jan. 8 at the Minneapolis street where Renee Nicole Macklin Good was killed.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images
The shooting happened on the second day of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which Homeland Security said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever. More than 2,000 officers are taking part, and Ms. Noem said they have already made more than 1,500 arrests.
It provoked an immediate response in the city where police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of people turning up to the scene to vent their outrage at the ICE officers and the school district cancelling classes for the rest of the week as a precaution.
Ms. Macklin Good’s death – at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since Mr. Trump took office – has resonated far beyond Minneapolis, as protests took place or were expected this week in many large U.S. cities.
“We should be horrified,” protester Shanta Hejmadi said. “We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens.”
Protestors in Minneapolis shouted during a tense standoff with masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The anger comes after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
The Canadian Press
Protesters blocked the street in Minneapolis where Good was shot with makeshift barricades constructed out of garbage cans, Christmas trees and canopies. People gave out coffee and water, while fires burned in metal drums to keep visitors warm.
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On Thursday, the Minnesota agency that investigates officer-involved shootings said it was informed that the FBI and U.S. Justice Department would not work with the department, effectively ending any role for the state to determine if crimes were committed. Ms. Noem said the state has no jurisdiction.
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” Drew Evans, the bureau’s superintendent, said.
Governor Tim Walz publicly demanded that the state be allowed to take part, repeatedly emphasizing that it would be “very difficult for Minnesotans” to accept that an investigation that excludes the state could be fair.
Ms. Noem, he said, was “judge, jury and basically executioner” during her public comments about the confrontation.
“People in positions of power have already passed judgment, from the President to the Vice-President to Kristi Noem – have stood and told you things that are verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate,” the Governor said.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a person near Roosevelt High School during dismissal time in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday.KEREM YUCEL/AFP/Getty Images
Mr. Frey, the mayor, told the Associated Press: “We want to make sure that there is a check on this administration to ensure that this investigation is done for justice, not for the sake of a cover-up.”
Several bystanders captured footage of Ms. Macklin Good’s killing, which happened in a neighbourhood south of downtown.
The videos show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and then grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It isn’t clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
The federal agent who fatally shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for almost two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
People placed flowers on the side of a snowy Minneapolis street where an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good. There was mourning, frustration, anger and demands for ICE to leave the state as the city continues to grapple with the death.
The Canadian Press
Ms. Noem hasn’t publicly named the officer who shot Ms. Macklin Good. But a Homeland Security spokesperson said her description of his injuries last summer refers to an incident in Bloomington, Minn., in which court documents identify him as Jonathan Ross.
Mr. Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle of a driver who was fleeing arrest on an immigration violation, and was dragged roughly 91 metres before he was knocked free, records show.
He fired his Taser, but the prongs didn’t incapacitate the driver, according to prosecutors. Mr. Ross was transported to a hospital, where he received more than 50 stitches.
A jury found the driver guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the officer involved in the shooting had worked more than 10 years as a deportation officer and had been selected for ICE’s special response team, which includes a 30-hour tryout and additional training.
Ms. McLaughlin declined to confirm the identity of the officer as Mr. Ross. The AP wasn’t immediately able to locate a phone number or address for Mr. Ross, and ICE no longer has a union that might comment on his behalf.