The fatal shooting Wednesday of a 37-year-old woman by a federal immigration agent during an operation in Minneapolis has sparked public outrage and protests across the country, including in California, where agents have been involved in some shootings.
California lawmakers and immigrant-rights groups condemned the killing of the woman, who was identified by family as Renee Nicole Good, a wife and mother of three.
Gov. Gavin Newsom took to social media to say President Trump had a role in the violence.
“His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences,” he wrote. “His reckless crackdown must end.”
In a written statement, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withdraw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from Los Angeles County and other areas of the U.S.
“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” Hahn said. “These ICE agents are too dangerous, and they should not be operating on our streets.”
In a strongly worded statement, Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles) called the shooting a “public execution.”
“ICE does not give a single s— who you are, how long you’ve lived here, or how hard you’ve worked. They are coming for ALL of us. They are armed with fear, force, and zero accountability,” he wrote. “I unequivocally condemn the actions of federal agents in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Renee was a public execution, NOT self-defense.”
Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, said it was not the first time that immigration enforcement operations had “resulted in violence and bloodshed.”
He said federal immigration agents had fired on at least nine people in five states and Washington, D.C.
”Last week, Keith Porter was shot and killed outside his apartment in Los Angeles by an off-duty federal agent on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “The tragic killings of people by ICE agents are yet another example of how mass immigration raids endanger our communities and erode our constitutional rights.”
The shooting of Porter is just one of several shootings and use-of-force incidents involving ICE agents in Southern California.
In October, immigration agents shot and wounded Carlos Jimenez, 24, a U.S. citizen in Ontario, just days after TikTok streamer Carlitos Ricardo Parias was shot in the arm. And in August, a federal agent in San Bernardino opened fire on a man inside a truck. The driver sped off after an agent smashed the driver’s side window.
The Minneapolis shooting occurred Wednesday morning on a residential street. Multiple videos taken by witnesses and shared on social media show the driver of a maroon compact sport utility vehicle reversing before accelerating forward and turning to leave when an agent — standing in front of the vehicle — opens fire.
Noem said during a news conference that the woman “weaponized her vehicle” and that it was an “act of terrorism.”
She said the agent, who she claimed had been dragged by a vehicle in June, was hospitalized and released. She defended the agent’s actions.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputed Noem’s description of events leading up to the shooting.
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly: That is bull—,” he said. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
President Trump took to social media to say that the situation was being “studied,” and also defended the actions of the agent.
“They are just trying to do the job of making America safe,” he wrote in part. “We need to stand by and protect our law enforcement officers.”
Hours after the slaying, thousands descended at the site of the shooting to hold a vigil for the woman while hundreds of demonstrators banged on the glass windows of a federal courthouse building in downtown Minneapolis, chanting, “ICE out now!”
In downtown Los Angeles, dozens gathered at Placita Olvera to call for an end to immigration raids that have brought terror to American communities, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
The nonprofit Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice announced on Instagramthat it would hold a demonstration outside of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building Thursday morning.
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