The national poll was conducted days after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, sparking outrage and mass protests.
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A majority of American voters say the shooting of protesters by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on January 7 should never have happened, according to a new national poll.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted days after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis found that 53% said the shooting was not justified and 35% said it was. A further 12% of respondents did not provide an opinion.
“The vast majority say the shots should not have been fired by ICE officers,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement. “Meanwhile, more than a third believe the shooting was justified.”
The poll asked 1,133 self-identified registered voters.. The margin of error is ± 3.7 percentage points.
Poll finds 8 in 10 people have seen the video of the shooting
The pollster collected opinions over a four-day period starting Jan. 8, including during weekend protests that erupted across the country and in which demonstrators denounced Goode’s death. Controversy surrounding the incident has grown over the past week, with lawmakers calling for the arrest of the gunman, Jonathan Ross, and local leaders challenging the federal explanation for what led to the shooting and the handling of the investigation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said hours after the shooting that the officers’ actions were unreasonable. in He claimed it was self-defense and that Good tried to use his car to attack the agents, calling it “domestic terrorism.”
Video of the incident, which occurred near Goode’s home in Minneapolis, was widely circulated online. They show multiple officers approaching Good’s SUV, which is parked in the middle of the road. One of the officers attempts to open the driver’s side door as someone can be heard saying, “(expletive) get out of the car.”
Good’s vehicle appeared to be turning away from the officer who fired, according to a video analysis by USA TODAY. The agent fired three shots, one into the windshield and two into the open driver’s side window of Good as he passed. All shots appeared to be fired after the agents had left.
More than eight in 10 voters surveyed said they had seen the widely circulated video of the meeting.
Opinions regarding shooting by gender and party
Polls show that men are more divided than women about the details of the shooting.
Forty-two percent of men believed the shooting was justified, while 44% said the shooting was not justified.
Among women, opinion was more unified. More than half of the women surveyed (61%) believe the shooting was not justified, and 30% of women think the shooting was justified.
Republican respondents were also more likely than Democrats or independents to say the shooting was “justified.”
More than three-quarters (77%) of Republicans say they believe the shooting was justified. Only 4% of Democrats feel the same way, and 92% say they think the shooting is not justified. Independents largely agreed with Democrats, with 59% saying it was unfair and 28% saying it was fair.
More broadly, four in 10 voters surveyed said they approve of the way ICE enforces immigration laws. A majority, 57%, said they disapproved of the agency’s approach, largely unchanged from a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in July 2025.
Nomu worries about declining approval ratings
Amid the uproar over the shooting, several Democratic lawmakers have begun calling for the impeachment of Noem, the head of the agency in charge of ICE.
Public opinion of the Department of Homeland Security secretary has declined slightly since the summer, with 36% of voters approving of how the secretary is handling his job in the wake of Goode’s death. Fifty-two percent said they did not support Noem, and 12% had no opinion.
That’s a few points off a Quinnipiac University poll from July 2025, which found Noem’s job performance approved by 39% and disapproved by 50%.
Noem has wide support among Republicans. More than three-quarters of Republicans surveyed, or 77%, gave Noem a thumbs up. Opinion polls show that Democrats and independents hold vastly different views. More than 8 in 10 Democrats (85%) disapprove of her job performance, while a majority of independents (57%) agree.
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
