ICE killings in Minneapolis: California lawmakers condemn ‘community killings’
Wednesday’s fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by an immigration agent while on duty in Minneapolis has sparked public outrage and protests across the country, including in California, where agents have been involved in some shootings.
California lawmakers and immigrant rights groups condemned the killing of the woman, identified by family as Renee Nicole Good, a wife and mother of three.
Gov. Gavin Newsom took to social media to say that President Trump is complicit in violence.
“His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos is having consequences,” he wrote. “His reckless attacks must stop.”
In a written statement, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withdraw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from Los Angeles County and other US jurisdictions.
“These ICE agents are untrained and they are creating excitement and everyone who has seen this video knows that ICE killed this woman,” Hahn said.. “These ICE agents are extremely dangerous, and they should not be working on our streets.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, pictured at the LA Board of Supervisors meeting in September, called for ICE to be removed from the county.
(Al Seib / For The Times)
In a powerful statement, Congressman Mark González (D-Los Angeles) called the incident “community murder.”
“ICE doesn’t give a damn about who you are, how long you’ve lived here, or how hard you’ve worked. They help ALL of us. Armed with fear, power, and accountability,” he wrote. “I unequivocally condemn the actions of federal agents in Minneapolis. Renee’s shooting was a public murder, NOT self-defense.”
Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, said it is not the first time that immigration enforcement operations have “caused violence and bloodshed.”
He said federal immigration agents shot at least nine people in five states and Washington, DC
“Last week, Keith Porter was shot and killed outside his Los Angeles home by an off-duty federal agent on New Year’s Eve.” “The tragic killings by ICE agents are yet another example of how mass immigration attacks threaten our communities and undermine our constitutional rights.”
Porter’s shooting is one of several shootings and use of force incidents involving ICE agents in Southern California.
In October, immigrants were shot and wounded Carlos Jimenez24, an American citizen in Ontario, a few days later TikTok host Carlitos Ricardo Parias he was shot in the arm. And in August, a federal agent San Bernardino opened fire at the man inside the truck. The driver sped away after the agent smashed the driver’s side window.
The Minneapolis shooting happened Wednesday morning on a residential street. Multiple videos taken by witnesses and shared on social media show the driver of a maroon compact sport utility vehicle in reverse before accelerating forward and turning to leave when an agent – who was standing in front of the vehicle – opened fire.
A deployed airbag and bloodstains are seen in a wrecked car at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
(Ellen Schmidt/MinnPost via Associated Press)
Noem said during the press conference that the woman “armed her car” and that it was “an act of terrorism.”
He said the agent, who he said was dragged by a car in June, was hospitalized and released. He defended the actions of the agent.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputed Noem’s description of the events leading up to the shooting.
“I’ve seen this video myself, I want to tell everyone straight: That’s bull—,” he said. “This was an agent who used force recklessly and it resulted in the death of a person, he was killed.”
President Trump took it social networks to say that the situation is “read,” and it protects the agent’s actions.
“They are just trying to do the job of making America safer,” he wrote in part. “We have to stand up and protect law enforcement.”
People gathered in Minneapolis for a vigil Wednesday after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman early in the morning.
(Bruce Kluckhohn/Associated Press)
Hours after the killing, thousands descended on the site of the shooting to hold a vigil for the woman while hundreds of protesters pounded on the glass windows of the downtown Minneapolis courthouse, chanting, “ICE out now!”
In the center of the city of Los Angeles, many people gathered in Placita Olvera to ask for an end to the attacks on immigrants that have brought fear to American communities, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
The non-profit clergy and laity organization United for Economic Justice announced on Instagram that they will be holding a protest outside the US Citizenship and Immigration Services building on Thursday morning.
