Welcome to the NewsHour. There were protests in Minnesota today over ICE and the fatal
shooting of a 37-year-old woman, Renee Nicole Goode, on Wednesday.
While at the White House, Vice President J.D. Vance strongly defended ICE, saying the
officer was defending himself and called Goode's death a tragedy of her own making.
Local officials, including Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frye, are hammering ICE and its aggressive
presence in the community.
Goode officials also said that federal investigators were effectively shutting them out of the
shooting inquiry and blocking them from accessing evidence.
Many in the community were reeling from the events of the past 48 hours.
Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has the story from Minneapolis.
This morning, protesters clashed with federal agents in front of the Whipple Federal Building
outside of Minneapolis, a city on edge after an ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen, Renee
Nicole Goode, yesterday.
The shooting caught on camera by bystanders shows a chaotic scene on the residential street,
ending with an agent firing three shots into Goode's SUV.
No! Shit! Shit! Oh, my f***ing God! What the f***?
This was an attack on law and order.
At a press conference this afternoon, Vice President J.D. Vance reiterated the administration's
defense of the agent's actions.
What I am certain of is that she violated the law.
What I am certain of is that that officer had every reason to think that he was under
very serious threat for injury or, in fact, his life.
What I am certain of is that she accelerated in a way where she ran into the guy.
I don't know what was in her heart and what was in her head, but I know that she violated
the law and I know that officer was acting in self-defense.
But state and local officials sharply disagree about what the video evidence shows.
They say Goode was trying to get away from ICE not to run down the officer.
Vance says, ultimately, the blame falls on what he calls the far left.
I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it's a tragedy
of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement
a lunatic fringe against our law enforcement officers.
The officer who local media identified as Jonathan Ross is described as having 10 years
of experience with the force and was involved in a separate incident in which he was dragged
by a car and deployed a taser, according to a criminal complaint from June of last year.
You Do is an activist with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.
To hear Christie Nome and other federal leaders not show any empathy, but to start a smear
campaign against Renee and Minnesotans is abhorrent and disgusting.
A vigil in a makeshift memorial grew Wednesday evening near the site of the shooting honoring
Goode, whose family and friends describe her as a Christian who participated in mission
trips, a poet who loved to sing and a loving mother of three.
At the memorial today, where protesters have put up makeshift barricades, Somali immigrant
Dika Adan came to pay her respects.
If you see a kid being bullied, you stand up for them.
You say something.
Renee did that.
She stood up.
She stood up for the rights for people being captured in the streets like herd of animals.
And she lost her life because of that.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz earned accountability for Goode's death.
People in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the
vice president to Christie Nome have stood and told you things that are verifiably false,
verifiably inaccurate.
It feels to me like we're at one of those inflection points that simply asking our government to
give us accountability, listen to local leaders, ratchet down the rhetoric, let people feel
safe in their person.
And let's let our kids go to school without fear.
Minneapolis schools were closed today in the wake of the shooting, and after immigration
agents clashed with people near one high school yesterday afternoon.
For now, the city, no stranger to civil unrest, anxiously awaits what's to come while mourning
one of its own.
The place that Renee was killed yesterday was six blocks away from where George Floyd
was murdered.
The law enforcement response is the same to lie, to cover up, and to spin a different
story on really what actually happened.
As of late this afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign set up for Renee Goode has raised close to
$900,000, Jeff.
And Fred, what more have you seen on the streets and herd as you've talked to people there?
Jeff, anywhere you go in this city, there is palpable tension and a sense of deja vu.
I'm standing near the site of yesterday's incident, and it's not far from where George
Floyd was murdered.
One person here, however, told me that unlike George Floyd, which was a one-off, this seems
unrelenting.
The federal enforcement surge began several days ago, and it is targeting not just immigration
enforcement or immigration, but rather also the expanding fraud investigation involving
Minnesota state programs, which the administration has vowed to crack down on, and which targets
specifically the Somali immigrant community in this city.
We know the mayor and other Democrats are urging ICE to leave this city.
Based on your reporting, what's expected of the immigration enforcement effort in the
days ahead?
If anything, Jeff, word is that they are going to escalate.
The man in charge of Border Patrol, Greg Gervino, has been cited in several locations
in this city.
More officers are being dispatched here, so there's no sense that it's going to diminish
in any way.
For their part, the protesters say they do not plan to let up in any of their activities
and their vigilance.
We take winter in our stride here in Minnesota, but this one is one that is not going to be
forgotten soon.
Fred de Sam Lazaro and Minneapolis for us tonight.
Fred, our thanks to you.