Federal officer shoots man who DHS says fled traffic stop and attacked officer
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Federal agents have used tear gas and pepper spray in confrontations with residents and protesters as pushback continues to grow in the days following Renee Good's death.
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What we know
- The Department of Homeland Security said a federal officer shot a Venezuelan man in the leg in Minneapolis this evening after the man allegedly fled a targeted traffic stop and then attacked the officer.
- The new shooting comes a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. More than 2,000 federal agents have been deployed to the city.
- Good’s family thanked the public for their support, remembering Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, as a “beautiful light” who “brought joy to anyone she met.”
- The Department of Homeland Security has called the operation in Minnesota its biggest to date, with more than 2,400 people having been arrested since it began Nov. 29.
- Federal agents have used tear gas and pepper spray in confrontations with residents and protesters as pushback continues to grow in the days following Good's death.
- Six people with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota have resigned over concerns about the direction of the investigation into Good’s death, according to a source familiar with the resignations.
- Officials in Minnesota sued the federal government Monday to halt the deployment of thousands of immigration agents to the state.
In video, family frantically pleads for help as they describe man shot by ICE in Minneapolis
In a live video posted to Facebook tonight, members of a family pleaded for help as they described a man who they said was shot in the leg by ICE agents.
The video, recorded from inside a home, showed several people frantically talking in Spanish to what appeared to be 911 dispatchers, one of whom seemed to be translating for the other. The video did not show anyone who appeared wounded.
“Please, help us. We have children,” a man says after several people tell the dispatcher that the person in question had been shot in the leg.
The Department of Homeland Security said tonight that a federal officer had shot a Venezuelan man in the leg after what the agency said was an “ambush.” It was not immediately clear whether the shooting described in the video was the same one referenced by federal and city officials.
NBC News has geolocated the video to the same neighborhood in North Minneapolis, where officials said the shooting occurred. The video was posted around the time of the shooting.
The person who posted the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The person filming the video at various points opens the curtains of a window. Red and blue flashing lights from a vehicle can been seen outside.
“They were chasing my husband for about half an hour,” a woman in the video can be heard telling dispatchers. “They were trying to crash into him and he got to the house, and since we closed the door on them, they shot him.”
The woman tells the dispatchers that ICE agents are outside the property, trying to get in.
“Tell them they shot the door,” another woman’s voice can be heard saying. “Son, come. Son, come.”
At least two young children can be seen in the video.
Mayor says ICE is 'creating chaos' but warns against 'taking the bait'
Immigration agents who have flooded the Minneapolis area are "creating chaos," Mayor Jacob Frey said tonight, while also urging peace and warning protesters against "taking the bait."
Frey has been critical of federal immigration authorities since the fatal shooting of Good, which sparked national outrage and competing narratives between federal and local officials about what happened.
“I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerable. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there, too,” he said tonight.
But, as protesters and immigration enforcement once again clashed on the icy streets of Minneapolis, he appealed for calm.
Frey praised peaceful demonstrators while forcefully discouraging violence. The violent protesters, he said, are not helping the cause of immigrants or the residents of the city.
"And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight: Stop. That is not helpful. Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”
‘This is not sustainable,’ Minneapolis mayor says
The situation in Minneapolis is not sustainable, the city’s mayor said tonight, following another shooting of a civilian by a federal immigration agent.
Mayor Jacob Frey was speaking to reporters as the city, already experiencing unrest following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, was roiled further by the shooting of a man after what federal officials called an “ambush.”
“This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in. And at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to protect order,” Frey said.
The city’s police force numbers about 600 officers, he said, dwarfed by what he said are about 3,000 immigration officers in the area. The local officers, he said, should be able to focus on police work and responding to day-to-day 911 calls.
He said tonight that residents have been asking local police officers to “fight ICE agents on the streets, to stand by their neighbors.”
“We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another,” Frey said.
Police chief tells protesters to immediately disperse
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara called a protest that erupted in response to the shooting tonight unlawful and called on protesters to immediately disperse.
Protesters have thrown fireworks, rocks and ice at police, he said.
“It is well past the line, and people need to leave,” he said, adding: “This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further.”
Minneapolis police chief says federal agent shot man during a struggle
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a federal agent shot a man tonight during a struggle outside a home north of downtown Minneapolis.
After he was shot, the man retreated into the home and refused to come out, O’Hara said at a news conference.
Eventually federal agents entered the home and the man was taken to a hospital, O’Hara said. The chief described the injury as non life-threatning.
O’Hara said that a person may have assaulted the officer but that he wasn't sure who. The FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are processing evidence at the scene, he said.
Shooting occurred miles from where Renee Good was killed
The shooting by a federal agent tonight occurred in the 600 block of 24th Avenue North, the city said, roughly 12 miles north of where Good was killed last week.
Minneapolis officials ask for calm after shooting
Minneapolis officials asked for calm after a federal immigration officer shot a man during what federal authorities described as a violent confrontation.
The city said on X that the man was hospitalized with apparently non-life-threatening injuries.
“We understand there is anger,” the city said. “We ask the public to remain calm.”
In a separate post, the city asked federal immigration authorities to leave the city and the state immediately.
"We stand by our immigrant and refugee communities — know that you have our full support," the city said.
Trump calls ICE shooting of Renee Good 'sad to see on both sides'
Trump today softened his tone on last week's fatal shooting of Good , calling it "unfortunate."
"It's so sad to see on both sides," Trump said in an interview with Reuters.
A week earlier, hours after the shooting, Trump said on Truth Social that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer.”
Asked today whether Ross did the right thing, Trump told Reuters: “I don’t get into right or wrong. I know that it was a tough situation to be in.”
“There was very little respect shown to the police, in this case, the ICE officers,” he added.
Federal officer shoots man in leg after 'ambush' in Minneapolis, DHS says
A federal officer shot a Venezuelan man this evening in Minneapolis after what the Department of Homeland Security described as an “ambush," the agency said.
The officer had been conducting a targeted traffic stop at 6:50 p.m. local time when the man left in a vehicle, which crashed into a parked car, and then ran away, the department said in a statement.
As the officer pursued the man, who the department said was in the country illegally, he assaulted the officer, according to the statement.
During the struggle, two people came out of an apartment and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, according to the statement.
The man got loose and also began attacking the officer with a shovel or a broomstick, the department said.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots to defend his life,” the department said, adding that the man officers had been chasing was shot in the leg.
All three men barricaded themselves in the apartment but were taken into custody, according to the statement.
Both the man who was shot and the officer were hospitalized, the department said. Additional details about the incident were not immediately available.
Tensions grow as crowd gathers after reported shooting in Minneapolis
An angry crowd gathered tonight in a residential area where law enforcement officers were present and temporarily blocking a street.
People blew whistles, yelled expletives and threw snowballs at masked officers, video captured by NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis showed.
At one point, the officers could be seen using "flash bang" devices and chemical irritants on the protesters, according to the KARE reporter on the scene, and moving a perimeter closer to multiple law enforcement vehicles that had their lights activated.
Minneapolis says it's aware of reports of shooting involving federal law enforcement
The city of Minneapolis said it was aware of reports of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in North Minneapolis.
The city said on X tonight that it was working to confirm additional details.
Gov. Walz tells people to record 'atrocities' against Minnesotans
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz encouraged people tonight to help create a record of the “atrocities” against Minnesotans by recording immigration agents.
“You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities,” he said in a brief address. “Help us create a database of atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution."
Walz cited a social media post in which Trump told Minnesotans not to fear because “THE DAY OF RECONKING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING,” and he pleaded with Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “end this occupation.”
“You’ve done enough,” he said.
ICE officer who shot Renee Good suffered internal bleeding, official says
Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Good in Minneapolis last week, suffered internal bleeding to the torso following the incident, a Department of Homeland Security official said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week that the officer had been treated at the hospital and released.
6 prosecutors who resigned from state U.S. attorney’s office identified
The six prosecutors who resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota were identified as Joe Thompson, Melinda Williams, Harry Jacobs, Tom Calhoun Lopez, Ruth Shnider and Tom Hollenhorst, a source familiar with the resignations told NBC News.
Hollenhorst announced last week that he would be retiring, according to the source.
Trump threatens funding for states over 'sanctuary' cities as clashes intensify in Minneapolis
Trump said that he would cut off federal funding next month for any state that includes “sanctuary” cities, expanding his attacks on mostly Democratic-run cities after days of clashes in Minneapolis.
Trump’s vow, which he made on social media, repeated comments he first made in a speech in Detroit yesterday, when he said he would halt payments starting Feb. 1 to any state that had so-called sanctuary cities, which limit local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration officers.
Any such effort would undoubtedly be challenged in court. A federal judge in August blocked a previous attempt to freeze funding for more than 30 sanctuary jurisdictions unless they cooperated with his immigration crackdown.
Trump’s declaration came amid escalating tensions in Minneapolis, a week after a U.S. immigration officer fatally shot Good, a U.S. citizen, in her car.
Good family hires noted civil rights attorney Antonio Romanucci
Good’s family hired civil rights attorney Antonio Romanucci, who said he's dedicated to "fervently pursuing justice on behalf" of Good.
“It is always challenging to pursue litigation against state and local law enforcement officers because of the many immunities they are afforded. But legal action against the federal government is even more complex," according to a statement by Romanucci, who also represented loved ones of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020.
"This process will not deter us in any way from fervently pursuing justice on behalf of Renee Good,” he said.
Renee Good's family releases a statement
Good’s family thanked the public for their support today, remembering her as a “beautiful light” who “brought joy to anyone she met.”
“The kind of unending care we’ve been given during this time is exactly the kind that she gave to everyone,” her parents and four siblings said in a statement released through their attorney.
“She was our best friend with a seemingly infinite capacity for love. Nae-Nae gave everything she had to take care of her friends and family, and indeed people she never met,” the statement read. “If there was any celebration for any one of us, Nae amplified it. If there was sorrow, she was with you for all of it. Nae found joy in others being comforted and was herself a fountain of comfort.”
Her family called her their “protector” and said “we feel her absence deeply as we struggle to compose this statement without her gentle guidance.”
Renee Good and her brother Brent Ganger. Courtesy Romanucci & Blandin
“Knowing we can’t match her eloquence, we are remembering Nae in all the little things she’d be doing for us today. She is in the tight hug we offer each other as we lean on the counter,” the family said. “She’s in the goofy cackles we elicit in each other as we recall sweet memories, and she’s in the tears we leave on each others’ shirts. She is in the flow state that comes when your spirit is creating something passionate to share with others. Her voice is the one singing the song stuck in your head. More than anything, she is there when your heart breaks and fills for another person.”
“When we remember Nae, we remember her abundant heart, and we will move forward imitating that unending care,” they concluded.
Joe Rogan criticizes ICE tactics: ‘Are we really going to be the Gestapo?’
Joe Rogan compared ICE to “the Gestapo” in the latest episode of his popular podcast yesterday, openly breaking with Trump on his administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.
Rogan, one of the biggest podcasters in the world, endorsed Trump in the 2024 election just days after he held a three-hour interview with him on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” The show, which has consistently retained its No. 1 spot on the Spotify podcast charts, has more than 20.6 million subscribers on YouTube.
But yesterday, Rogan, who has been increasingly critical of Trump’s mass deportation agenda in recent months, expressed concern over ICE’s activities in an episode featuring Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. He said that “most people” believe law enforcement should arrest criminals but that many of the same people also believe ICE is “operating illegally.”
No immediate court decision on a request to stop the immigration crackdown in Minnesota
A judge made no immediate decision today on Minnesota’s request to suspend the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state, where federal agents have yanked people from cars and confronted angry bystanders demanding they pack up and leave.
Plumes of tear gas, the deployment of chemical irritants and the screech of protest whistles have become common on the streets of Minneapolis, especially since an immigration officer fatally shot Good on Jan. 7 as she drove away.
“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said at the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez promised to keep the case “on the front burner” and gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to the request for a restraining order. Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement.
Menendez said the state and cities will have a few more days to respond.
“It is simply recognition that these are grave and important matters,” she said of the timetable, noting that there are few legal precedents to apply to some of the key points in the case.
Justice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the slower approach set by Menendez was appropriate.
Menendez is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by ICE officers and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and vows not to back down. The Defense Department is preparing to send military lawyers to Minneapolis to assist, CNN reported.
“What we see right now is discrimination taking place only on the basis of race: Are you Latino or are you Somali? And then it is indiscriminate thereafter,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told Fox News. “In other words, they are pulling people off the streets. They have pulled U.S. citizens off the streets, and you don’t need to take my word for it at this point. This has been very well documented.”
The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota said four tribal members were detained at a homeless camp in Minnesota last week. Three remained in custody late last night.
“Enrolled tribal members are citizens of the United States by statute and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty,” said tribe President Frank Star Comes Out, who demanded their release.
A week later, the memorial for Renee Nicole Good is still growing
It has been a week since an ICE officer fatally shot Good in Minneapolis, and the memorial to honor her at the scene of the slaying continues to grow.
Flowers, stuffed animals and protest signs continued to pile up and adorn the spot on Portland Avenue between East 33rd and 34th streets where Good was slain by ICE officer Jonathan Ross.
A memorial for Renee Good in Minneapolis today. Kailani Koenig / NBC News
Minneapolis mayor speaks on ICE, investigation into Renee Good's death
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he doesn’t want to eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but believes ICE agents should target states that have larger numbers of undocumented immigrants.
“This, however, is the largest immigration enforcement action on record in the United States,” he said in a Wednesday Fox News interview on “Fox & Friends.”
“Why is the largest scale immigration enforcement action taking place where we don’t even have that many undocumented immigrants? Why would it not take place in Texas or Florida or Utah where you do actually have those large numbers of undocumented immigrants," he said.
The Mayor continued: “That is where it would make more sense. But again, if the issue is murder or crime, the answer is we do work with the federal government. In fact, we are presently doing that. So the truth is it is not about murder or crime.”
Frey went on to say that there is “discrimination taking place only on the basis of race” in his city.
“Are you Latino or are you Somali? And it is indiscriminate thereafter. They are pulling people off the streets. They have pulled U.S. citizens off the streets,” he said. “If this were about murder or rape or crime or fraud, then, look, we have worked together not just with the Biden administration, with the past Trump administration, with the Bush administration. We have worked with a number of administrations to successfully drive down crime. This is not about that.”
The Mayor, who called for ICE to “get the f— out” of Minneapolis following Renee Good’s death, said he wants there to be a “full and fair investigation” into what happened.
“I may have disagreements with some people that are part of your audience, but I hope that people can trust that I love my city," he said. "We are experiencing an extraordinary comeback. Crime is down in virtually every category in virtually every neighborhood. Small businesses were opening. And this whole chaos that has taken place, yeah it is setting us back.”
DHS says officers were 'forced' to arrest man whose neck they kneeled on in Minneapolis
After a video posted to social media showed ICE officers kneeling on the neck of a man whom they were arresting in Minneapolis, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said they were "forced" to make the arrest after the man impeded law enforcement.
The video shows ICE officers yanking a man from his car and dragging him to the ground, while he is kicking his legs in an attempt to wrestle free. Three officers were attempting to handcuff the man, with one officer holding his arms around the man's neck while two others tried to pin him to the ground.
The officer around the man's neck then moves his hands to assist the other two officers in handcuffing the man, and replaces his hands with his knee on the man's head and neck.
DHS said the incident, which took place on Jan. 7, occurred after officers were responding to a distress call from colleagues at the scene who requested backup "because they were being attacked by agitators." The spokesperson said that amid the chaos, an officer who "feared for his life" fired his weapon in defense.
When officers arrived, "hundreds of violent rioters swarmed them, assaulted them, and blocked their path," DHS said. It added that officers gave commands to the "violent agitator who was obstructing law enforcement" to move out of the way, but he refused and DHS said he "clearly resisted arrest."
DHS said officers were "forced to arrest him for impeding law enforcement," and that officers used the "minimum amount of force necessary to gain control of the violent agitator."
The spokesperson pointed out that the social media video is slowed down at the point at which the office places his knee on the man's neck. DHS said it was actually "a split second during a violent struggle."
Oglala Sioux Tribe calls for release of members
The Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota demanded the release of three tribal members who were allegedly taken into custody from a homeless encampment last week by ICE agents agents in Minnesota.
Those captured are "tribal citizens" and "are not aliens," according to a tribe statement. The members being held are categorically outside immigration jurisdiction," the tribe said.
"This is not a misunderstanding or an enforcement discretion issue," tribal President Frank Star Comes Out said. "This is a treaty violation. Treaties are not optional. Sovereignty is not conditional. Our citizens are not negotiable."
Representatives for ICE, DHS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs could not be immediately reached for comment today.
Stephen Miller claims Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor are guilty of terrorism
Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Fox News last night that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — both strident critics of the federal operation — were guilty of terrorism and of inciting violence.
"You can use the term insurgency, you can use the term insurrection, you can use the term domestic terrorism," Miller said, without outlining how either man has incited violence in the state.
Local prosecutor reiterates plan to collect evidence herself
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who along with city and state authorities was shut out of the FBI's investigation of Renee Good's death, said she still hopes to collect enough evidence herself to make her own decision on bringing criminal charges against ICE officer Jonathan Ross.
Whether she manages to do that remains to be seen. Without cooperation from the FBI — which has Ross' gun, shell casings and Good's car — Moriarty said she will rely on an online portal she announced last week for the public to submit evidence, and whatever the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension shares from the material it collected at the scene before it was booted from the case.
Moriarty, a former public defender who is in the last year of her four-year term as prosecutor and is not running for re-election, said in an interview that she has the legal authority to prosecute a federal officer. No matter where the evidence takes her, her goal is to add transparency to the case, she said. "We want community members to feel as though there is documentation and perhaps accountability,” Moriarty said.
The federal investigation has already turned divisive, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying in a statement yesterday there was “currently no basis” for the criminal section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate Ross. Several prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota have resigned over their concerns with the direction of the investigation. At least some felt pressure to examine any ties to activist groups by Good and her widow, a law enforcement official with knowledge of their decisions told NBC News. The official said the prosecutors were also concerned about cutting out state and local authorities.
Moriarty said she has also asked police in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs for evidence of other types of serious crimes allegedly committed by federal agents.
6 people resign from Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office over handling of Renee Good's death investigation
Six people have resigned from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office over their concerns with the direction of the investigation into Renee Good’s death, a source familiar with the resignations told NBC News.
A man visits a makeshift memorial for Renee Good today at the site where she was killed. Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
Video shows federal agents using pepper balls against protesters in Minneapolis
Federal prosecutors resign over concerns about probe into Minneapolis ICE shooting, source says
At least three prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota have resigned over their concerns with the direction of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, a person familiar with the resignations told NBC News yesterday.
The person confirmed the resignations of Joseph Thompson, Melinda Williams and another attorney. The two named attorneys, Thompson and Williams, did not immediately respond to messages from NBC News seeking comment.
The attorneys felt pressure from Justice Department leadership in both Minneapolis and Washington to investigate any ties to activist groups by Good and her widow, said a law enforcement official with knowledge of their decisions. The official said the prosecutors were also concerned about a decision to cut out state and local authorities from the federal investigation.
Immigration agents deploy tear gas, pepper spray in Minneapolis as confrontations grow
From high school students to elected officials, residents in Minnesota are pushing back against the growing deployment of federal immigration officers in their neighborhoods, leading to days of confrontations and protests.
Resident Neph Sudduth stopped to choke back tears as she witnessed immigration officers roaming around her neighborhood, just a few blocks from the site where an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good last week, and clashing with protesters.
"They will hurt you for real! They will hurt you for real!" she shouted at anti-ICE demonstrators, urging them to move away from the officers’ vehicles. Just then, an immigration officer rolled down his window, extended his arm and sprayed a protester point-blank in the face with a chemical agent.
Federal agents use pepper spray against a protester Sunday in Minneapolis. Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images
Minnesota sues federal government to try to end deployment of immigration agents
Officials in Minnesota sued the federal government to halt the deployment of thousands of immigration agents to the state.
"We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy, and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference.
Calling the deployment a federal "invasion of the Twin Cities," he said: "This has to stop."
A status conference is scheduled for today in the case.
