People gather around south Minneapolis where a woman was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo: Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump defended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as Democrats in Congress widely condemned the action.
Video obtained by the Minnesota Reformer shows an ICE officer demanding the driver of a maroon SUV get out of the vehicle. As the vehicle began to drive away, the officer fired three shots into the windshield and driver’s side window. The video shows no perceptible injuries to the officer, who walked away from the vehicle shortly after the shooting.
However, Trump wrote on social media that it was “hard to believe he is alive.”
“The female driver engaged in extremely disorderly, obstructive and resisting behavior and then brutally, willfully and furiously struck an ICE officer, who apparently shot her in self-defense,” Trump wrote.
Minnesota’s Democratic congressional delegation and other Democrats in Washington strongly condemned the incident and disputed the administration’s subsequent comments.
“We need full transparency and an investigation into what happened, and I am deeply concerned that the statements made by DHS do not appear to reflect the video evidence and accounts on the ground,” Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the state’s senior senator, said in a statement.
AND statement from several Minneapolis City Council members identified the victim as Renee Nicole Good, 37. A photo of the SUV shows several stuffed animals hanging from the glove compartment.
Trump, GOP backbench officer
Republicans in Congress have largely supported Trump’s version of events, calling the shooting self-defense and blaming Democrats for rhetoric they say inspired the violence.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the woman tried to run over the agent.
“One of these violent rioters armed her vehicle in an attempt to run over our law enforcement officers, in an attempt to kill them – this is an act of domestic terrorism,” McLaughlin said. “The ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his law enforcement colleagues and public safety, fired defensively.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called the victim a “domestic terrorist.”
House Republican Whip Tom Emmer expressed support for the ICE officer.
“Our brave ICE agents risk their lives every day to protect our communities from dangerous criminals,” he said in a statement. “May God bless them and protect them in their efforts. Shame on the elected officials who endanger these agents by spreading lies and hateful rhetoric.”
Democrats call for an investigation
Democrats on Capitol Hill condemned the attack and the administration’s response.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for a criminal investigation into the ICE officer who shot a woman.
“No evidence has been presented to justify this killing,” Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said in a statement. “Secretary Kristi Noem is an uncompromising liar with zero credibility. The masked ICE agent who pulled the trigger should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law for acting with a depraved indifference to human life.”
Minnesota Democrats said the ongoing immigration enforcement campaign in the Twin Cities has heightened tensions.
“For weeks, Donald Trump has directed ICE and DHS agents to racially profile and arrest Minnesotans in their homes, workplaces and on our streets,” Minnesota Democratic Representative Betty McCollum said in a statement, adding that there are more than 2,000 federal immigration agents in the state.
“Trump’s reckless and dangerous immigration policies do nothing to make us safer,” she continued. “Today in Minneapolis, as a result of these actions, a masked federal agent fatally shot a woman in the head.”
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said the woman fatally shot by an ICE officer was a U.S. citizen. She urged ICE to leave Minnesota.
Democratic Republican Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American woman elected to Congress whose district includes where the shooting occurred, said the woman is a legal observer, or a neutral third party who attends protests or other public demonstrations to observe and record law enforcement actions against protesters.
“ICE’s actions today were unwise and reprehensible,” Omar said.
DHS practices, budget questioned
DHS received billions for immigration enforcement as part of last year’s tax and spending cut package passed by congressional Republicans. The funds can be used to hire modern ICE officers and to detain and expel immigrants.
On January 3, ICE announced it had hired 12,000 modern officers, doubling its number of agents from 10,000 to 22,000.
The top Democratic Senate leader, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, wrote on social media that “Democrats cannot vote for a DHS budget that does not stop this agency’s growing lawlessness.”
New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker expressed his concerns in a statement that aggressive DHS practices would lead to more tragedies.
“All evidence shows that hiring standards have been lowered, training is inadequate and internal controls are inadequate,” he said. “These conditions allowed agents to operate without appropriate supervision and, in some cases, illegally.”
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also criticized ICE’s hiring practices, specifically citing White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the chief architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
“What happened is a disgrace and we need an investigation immediately,” Gallego said on social media. “It is clear that this agent did not have the appropriate training and this is because Stephen Miller makes every effort to hire as many agents as possible.”
Day care investigation
The federal immigration operation in Minneapolis began last month, but have gotten worse this week after a right-wing influencer reported that day care centers run by members of the Somali community were counterfeit.
The Trump administration responded directed states to provide a “justification” that the federal child care funds they receive are being spent on “legitimate” providers, and Noem focused on immigration enforcement in a city that has a gigantic Somali community.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing Wednesday on fraud in Minnesota.
