Minneapolis ICE Shooting Felt Across the Nation

By Sophia Cardona

The shooting of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, Minn. has sparked large protests around the nation. On Thursday, residents took to the streets of Downtown Jacksonville to demand justice for her death. 

Since September 2025, nine people have been shot by ICE and at least two people have been killed, according to reporting by the New York Times. Large ICE operations have disturbed peace in various states, as protests and chaos have erupted. 

Jacksonville residents and members of advocacy groups such as the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA), 50501 Northeast Florida and the Jax Palestine Solidarity Network (JAXPSN) condemned ICE for what they referred to as “abuse of power.” As they walked down the streets of Downtown, they chanted “Justice for Renee,” “When citizens are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcomed here” and “Stop the deportations now.”

JIRA, one of the groups that organized the protest, was founded last year as a response to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Maria García, organizer for the group, urged people to not give up on their fight for justice and continue raising their voices. 

“We are here in Jacksonville demanding justice for Renee Good, the woman, the mother, the observer that was murdered in cold blood,” said García. “We want a stop to the ICE raids. We want to see (ICE officer) Ross convicted. We refuse to live in a world where an innocent person can be shot dead in the street.”

Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the crackdown on immigration has been the main focus. Beginning in August 2025, ICE agents and National Guard troops have been deployed to large cities such as Chicago, Ill., Portland, Ore. and Minneapolis, Minn. to increase deportation efforts. 

At Thursday’s protest in Jacksonville, residents condemned the killing of 37-year-old U.S. citizen, Renee Good, who was shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The scene of the incident in Minneapolis was just blocks away from where George Floyd was killed by a police officer in 2020.

“This is our country; these are our communities, and we stand together. When they come for one of us, they come for all of us,” said 50501 Northeast Florida spokesperson Jess Boaz.  

On Wednesday morning, Good’s vehicle was stopped in the middle of a street when officers approached her. She was then seen through videos posted by witnesses backing up and driving forward to leave the area. That is when Ross fired, striking her in the head through her vehicle’s windshield. 

“A woman is dead. They had no lawful reason to surround her car, they had no lawful reason to ask her to get out, and absolutely no justification for escalating a non-crime into a fatal situation. They did not respond to danger, they created it,” Boaz said. 

Just a few days before Good was shot, the Trump administration announced the “largest immigration operation ever” to take place in Minneapolis. The operation is equipped with a deployment of over 2,000 federal agents to the city. 

The announcement comes shortly after an alleged fraud scandal involving Somali-run childcare centers. The operation has shaken the Somali community in the city, which is the largest in the nation, after Trump made a direct threat to denaturalize U.S. citizens of Somali descent. 

Videos on social media have been carefully inspected by news organizations and audiences. Soon after the incident, many began scrutinizing the ICE officer, claiming that Good simply wanted to leave the area and was wrongfully killed. However, the Trump administration has painted a different picture. 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made statements about the incident during a press conference where she said that Good tried to run over the ICE officer, claiming self-defense. However, when inspecting the videos, many have noted that the vehicle’s wheels were turned to the right and away from the officer as Good was taking off. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reacted to the Trump administration’s statements about the incident during a press conference.

“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullsh*t,” he said at the press conference. 

On Truth Social, President Trump posted a defense of Ross, writing, “Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital.” 

The New York Times did an in-depth analysis of the footage, which can be seen from a wide variety of angles and noted that the agent was not struck by the vehicle and moments after he shot the victim, he walked away without indicating any signs of injuries or discomfort. 

Trump told the New York Times, “She behaved horribly, and then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.” Vice President JD Vance referred to the victim as a “deranged leftist,” a comment he posted on X while following the self-defense narrative.

“We’re looking at the literal head of state, President Donald Trump, telling the whole world that this woman was guilty of a crime and thus deserved to be murdered. One, she did not commit a crime and two, she should not have been murdered at the hands of an ICE agent, or anyone who’s designed to protect and serve us,” said JIRA organizer Vanessa Alvarez.

Following the incident, large groups of protesters took to the cold streets of Minneapolis to express their outrage for the killing of Renee Good. 

“We’ve dreaded this moment, since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis. They are not here to cause safety in the city, what they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They are ripping families apart, they’re sewing chaos in our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people,” Frey said at the press conference.  

The incident is under federal investigation and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has been left out of it.

“No matter what issue we are each focused on, we have one big enemy in common and it isn’t just Trump, it’s the whole damn system,” Boaz said.

In the midst of the protest, news broke out that two people were shot in Portland, Ore. by a Border Patrol agent during a “targeted vehicle stop.” According to an X post by DHS, the two people in the car were suspected to be affiliated with Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua. 

According to reporting by NBC News, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that shots were fired after the driver “weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents.” In this incident DHS also claimed that the agent acted in self-defense. 

This story is still developing and is also under a federal investigation. 

Many worry that events such as these will create a precedent for allowing police brutality and restricting freedom of speech, which they see as a trend that has become overwhelmingly present since the increase of ICE raids. 

“It’s a scary precedent because if they’re attacking people like Renee Good, then who else are they coming for next?” Alvarez said.