MINNEAPOLIS, USA — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday, January 8, 2026, intensified his criticism of federal immigration authorities after a fatal shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, dismissing complaints about his language and defending his call for agents to leave the city.
Mr Frey’s remarks followed the death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, who was shot during a confrontation with federal agents in a residential area south of downtown Minneapolis earlier that day.
Video footage of the encounter, later circulated on social media, shows officers approaching a sport utility vehicle stopped in the roadway before shots were fired at close range.
Appearing on CNN late Wednesday night, Mr. Frey responded to backlash over his earlier demand that ICE agents “get the f— out” of Minneapolis.
“I’m so sorry if I offended their Disney princess ears, but here’s the thing — if we’re talking about what’s inflammatory, on one hand you got someone who dropped an f-bomb, and you got someone who killed somebody else,” he said.
“I think the most inflammatory action is killing somebody.”
Dispute Over the Shooting
Ms Good died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
Family members described her as an affectionate mother of three who had recently moved to Minnesota and identified herself as a poet on social media.
Video of the incident shows an officer approaching the driver’s side of the vehicle and demanding the door be opened.
As the vehicle begins to move, another officer pulls a weapon and fires multiple shots before jumping out of the way.
The car then accelerates and crashes into parked vehicles and a utility pole.
At a news conference, Frey rejected assertions by the Trump administration that the officer acted in self-defence.
“They’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” he said.
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly — that is bullshit.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also condemned the shooting, calling it “totally predictable” and “totally avoidable.”
Federal Response
The Department of Homeland Security offered a sharply different account.
Secretary Kristi Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were responding to a vehicle stuck in the snow when they were confronted by what she described as a “mob of agitators.”
Ms Noem said Ms Good had followed agents throughout the day, blocked their vehicle and ignored commands to move.
“She then proceeded to weaponise her vehicle, and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over,” Ms Noem told reporters, characterising the act as domestic terrorism and saying it was under investigation by the F.B.I.
State officials said Minnesota would conduct its own investigation into the shooting.
Wider Tensions Over Immigration Enforcement
Mr Frey accused federal immigration agents of creating instability in the city while urging residents to remain calm.
Democratic leaders in Minnesota and Washington described the ICE operation as an unnecessary provocation that ended in tragedy.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is carrying out what it called the largest operation in its history in Minnesota, with 2,000 officers deployed.
Noem said the effort was aimed at arresting individuals accused of serious crimes and followed allegations of large-scale welfare fraud involving Somali immigrants.
According to the department, 1,500 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Ms Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter was “extremely compassionate” and not the type of person to confront immigration officers.
“She’s taken care of people all her life,” she said. “She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.”
Local police said Ms Good was not the target of an immigration operation.
