Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Minneapolis to protest against immigration enforcement agency ICE and mourn Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman shot dead by an ICE officer last Wednesday.
According to local police, the demonstrations were largely peaceful. Similar protests under the slogan “ICE, out for Good” have occurred in Austin, Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles in recent days.
Authorities say the ICE officer acted in self-defence, but video footage of the incident, reconstructed by CNN over the weekend, suggests otherwise. Protesters are calling the shooting murder.
ICE has faced sustained criticism, with numerous cities witnessing large, sometimes violent protests against its operations. President Donald Trump has used the agency to enforce his aggressive immigration policies, prompting legal challenges to block ICE deployments and accompanying National Guard troops.
Minnesota’s Democratic governor Tim Walz responded by urging residents not to believe White House “propaganda” about the necessity of the arrest campaigns. The federal government has described Minneapolis as the target of ICE’s largest-ever migration operation, involving around 2,000 ICE officers.
