Featured Image Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Topics: Minnesota, Immigration, US News
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Minnesota, Immigration, US News
Tragedy struck on Wednesday in a sleepy Central Minneapolis neighbourhood as a 37-year-old woman was shot dead by an ICE agent.
The woman, identified by her mother as Renee Nicole Good, died just a few blocks from where she lived after being gunned down by an ICE agent.
While the circumstances surrounding her death continue to remain unclear, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that the woman ‘weaponized her vehicle’ and branded the incident an ‘act of domestic terrorism.’
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, however, had a far different view as he said that the ICE officer who shot and killed the motorist acted recklessly and rejected federal officials' claims that the officer had acted in self-defense.
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In an expletive-laden outburst, Frey told ICE officers to ‘f----- get out of here.’
"There's little I can say, again, that'll make this situation better," Frey said during a press conference on Wednesday shortly after the fatal shooting.
“But I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for ICE."
He raged, "To ICE, get the f--- out of Minneapolis."
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“They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said.
“They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people.
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self defense. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is b-hit."
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Yet even despite the mayor’s strong words, the DHS insisted that the officer had been right to use lethal force.
"Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.
"An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers. The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased.
"The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.
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"This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement who are facing 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats. This is an evolving situation, and we will give the public more information as soon as it becomes available."
Footage of the incident has begun to circulate online, which appears to show an ICE agent attempting to open the door to a woman’s vehicle as she tries to drive away.
A second officer then shoots her, with the car seen rolling down the road to crash into another parked vehicle.
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Since the shooting unfolded, public tensions have been exacerbated, with large crowds shouting at police and ICE agents as they attempted to secure the scene with yellow police tape.
Among the slogans being chanted, protestors could be heard yelling: "No ICE no KKK no fascist USA.”
Reflecting on the loss of her daughter in Wednesday’s tragedy, Rachel’s mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune: “Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.
“She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”
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Ganger said her daughter is ‘not part of anything like that at all,’ referring to protesters challenging ICE agents, and admitted she was probably ‘terrified’ at the time of her death.