How Trump and Vance’s accounts of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis differ from the video evidence
The White House’s official account of how a US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed an American citizen in his car in Minneapolis is in stark contrast to what can be seen in videos of the incident.
US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem all insist that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, had her car raided by an ICE officer who then fired in self-defense because she feared for her life.
However, three videos from the scene — each confirmed by CBC News as authentic — contradict these claims and raise serious questions about why the White House is defending the deadly shooting as it should.
What the videos show
Two of the videos were filmed at street level near Good’s car, from the same angles from the back and sides. The third shot from above, from a distance, showing the front of the car.
Good’s SUV, a burgundy Honda Pilot, appears to be parked horizontally on a partially snow-covered Portland Avenue, its engine revving and the driver’s side window rolled down.
A gray van drives about a car length away from the driver’s side of Good’s car. Two masked ICE officers get out, walk quickly toward the SUV and repeatedly order Good to get out. One of the officers grabbed the driver’s side door handle and tried to open it.
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s latest crackdown, and now anger is burning over conflicting accounts of what really happened. Andrew Chang breaks down the video evidence moment by moment and compares it to the laws governing the use of force and self-defense. Photos provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Then, as the SUV briefly pulls back, a third ICE officer is seen stepping in front of the vehicle, on the passenger side.
Good turns his front wheels to the right and his car starts moving forward. At that time, the third police officer is seen less than a meter in front of the driver’s side of the hood of the SUV.
The officer then drew his gun and fireds what appeared to be three shots fired into the car. Even when he fires the first shot, the front of the car has clearly passed him as it turns to the right and he fires as he stands next to it.
What Trump, Vance and Noem said happened
Just two hours after the incident, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement to blame Good. The statement, posted on X, says “rioters began to block ICE officers” as the incident unfolded. No sign of the rebels could be seen in any of the shooting videos.
“One of these violent insurgents armed his vehicle, attempting to attack law enforcement officers with the intent of killing them,” the DHS statement read. “An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of other law enforcement officers and the safety of the public, fired a defensive shot.”
Hours later, Noem told reporters that the woman “attacked” ICE officers “and tried to attack them” in what he described as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Trump released a social media post Wednesday afternoon, attaching a video that was filmed from a distance. He said Good was “very disorderly, obstructive and hostile” and that he “violently, deliberately, and viciously ran over an ICE officer, who apparently shot him in self-defense.”
None of the videos show Good’s car running over the officer.
‘A disaster of his own making’
Vance was very bold in suggesting that the shooting was justified and blamed Good.
“The reason this woman died is because she tried to rape someone with her car,” he said at a press conference at the White House on Thursday.
“It’s a disaster of his own making,” Vance said. “You have a woman who steered her car at a police officer and pressed the accelerator. No one is against that.”
Many officials in Minneapolis actually disagree with that. However, Vance insisted that the video evidence supported his version of events.
“If you look at all the angles of that video, it’s clear that his car went straight towards this young man. It actually collided with him. And it happened when he shot. That’s obvious.”
The videos do not appear to show the car colliding with the officer. The officer remained on his feet throughout the shooting and is seen walking around the scene after the shooting unharmed.
“He was trying to rape this boy with his car. He shot and retaliated. He defended himself,” Vance shelp. He also accused media reporting otherwise of “lying about this attack.”
In the wake of the ICE shooting that killed a Minnesota woman, state officials and the Trump administration are arguing about the incident and how it should be viewed. And despite strong pleas from local officials for ICE to leave the country, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said its officials are not going anywhere.
The videos don’t support the White House narrative: expert
John Gross, an associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has written extensively about police use of force, reviewed the videos and concluded that what they show does not match the narrative from the White House.
“Allegations that this is an act of domestic terrorism are absurd,” Gross told CBC Power and Politics on Thursday.
“He didn’t try to rape the policeman who ended up shooting him,” he said.
“The idea that this car was used as a weapon or aimed at the police, is clearly not supported by the video we have at the scene.”
Gross says the bullet hole, a few inches away from the driver’s side, shows that the officer first fired into the side of the car.
He said the next two shots came when the car turned its back on the police officer.
Daniel Brunner, a retired FBI agent, analyzes the Minnesota shooting and provides insight into what the investigation might look like.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also disputes the White House’s version of events.
“People in positions of power have made a decision, from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem, they have stood up and told you things that are false and incorrect,” Walz said at a press conference on Thursday.
With two of the most powerful elected officials in the US already trying to exonerate the official, there are now concerns that the FBI’s investigation into what happened will not be independent.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a social media post Thursday that Noem “does not want an impartial investigation because he knows his narrative about domestic terrorism is nonsense.”
Frey’s post came after news that Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would not be able to access any evidence collected by the FBI as part of its investigation into the shooting.
