Minneapolis is the latest Democratic city to see an influx of federal agents as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Moments before and after Lenny Good ICE was shot in Minneapolis
Witnesses filmed the entire ICE operation in Minneapolis that ended in a shooting.
Federal immigration agents poured into Minneapolis in the days before they shot and killed protester Renee Nicole Good in her car on January 7th.
The Trump administration has flooded officials into other cities across the country to ramp up immigration enforcement. In Minneapolis, the administration also linked the spike to an ongoing federal fraud investigation. The investigation includes many members of the region’s Somali-American community, the majority of whom are naturalized citizens or born in the United States.
Renee Nicole Good, 37, died after video showed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers firing into her car on a Minneapolis street. President Donald Trump and administration officials have said the shooting was an act of self-defense by an agent, but local leaders and critics said the video challenges that explanation.
“They’re already trying to report this as an act of self-defense,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a Jan. 7 news conference. “I’ve seen the video myself, and I want to say it directly to you: That’s bullshit.”
Minneapolis is the latest city to see increased enforcement against illegal immigration, with Todd Lyons, acting head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau, calling the Minnesota operation “the largest immigration operation in history” in an interview with Newsmax.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY on Jan. 8 about why immigration agents were in the Minneapolis-Central District when Good was killed.
Here’s what we know about why ICE is in Minneapolis.
Why is ICE in Minnesota?
Federal authorities say they have sent a large number of staff to Minnesota as the state is under investigation for fraud in the scandal that cost Gov. Tim Walz his re-election bid.
Dozens of people, including a Somali-American national, have been charged in connection with a scheme to defraud Minnesota’s child nutrition program. The accusations date back to 2022, but the state’s wrongdoing has received increased attention in recent days due to a viral video by conservative social media influencers and responses from Republican lawmakers.
In recent weeks, President Trump has seized on the scandal to criticize Walz and target the Somali people.
Federal agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said they were rushing resources to the state to investigate the fraud.
Immigration agents have been operating in Minneapolis for weeks as pressure mounts in the aftermath of a fraud scandal. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said agents have made more than 1,000 arrests since the agency first sent personnel to Minnesota.
It is unclear exactly what kind of operations agents conducted in the area where Good was shot on January 7th.
Use of force experts quell Minneapolis ICE shooting
Lieutenant Diane Goldstein, a use-of-force expert, uncovers the tactics that led to the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minnesota.
Minneapolis is the newest Democratic-controlled city to take action on immigration.
President Trump’s second term has seen immigrants and other federal agents sent to several Democratic-led cities that the president says are rife with violent crime and illegal immigration.
The operation sparked widespread protests, arrests, and at times clashes between demonstrators and police. In some cases, local officials have argued that the Trump administration’s characterization of a city’s crime has been exaggerated.
Targets include Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, all of which are led by Democrats. In one attack in Chicago, federal agents rappelled into an apartment building from a Black Hawk helicopter. In the capital, law enforcement set up checkpoints throughout the city and National Guard troops patrolled, cleaning up graffiti and picking up trash.
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