Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The White House’s official account of how a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a U.S. citizen in her vehicle in Minneapolis clashes sharply with 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 the victim, Renee Nicole Good, deliberately rammed her vehicle into an ICE agent who then fired in self-defense because he feared for his life.
Yet three videos from the scene — each verified as authentic by CBC News — contradict those claims and raise serious questions about why the White House is defending the deadly shooting as justified.
What the videos show
Two of the videos were filmed from street level, in close proximity to Good’s vehicle, at similar angles from the rear and sides. The third was filmed from above, some distance away, showing the front of the vehicle.
Good’s SUV, a burgundy Honda Pilot, is seen parked horizontally on partially snow-covered Portland Avenue, its engine idling and the driver’s side window rolled down.
A gray pickup truck approaches about a car length from the driver’s side of Good’s vehicle. Two Masked ICE agents emerge, briskly walk toward the SUV, and repeatedly order Good to get out. One of the officers grabs the driver’s side door handle and tries to open it.
WATCH | Breaking down video of fatal ICE shooting:
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, and now outrage is erupting over conflicting accounts of what really happened. Andrew Chang breaks down the moment-to-moment video evidence and compares it to the rules governing use of force and self-defense. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Then, as the SUV briefly reverses, a third ICE agent is seen standing in front of the vehicle on the passenger side.
Good turns his front wheels to the right and his vehicle begins to move forward. At this point, the third officer appeared to be less than three feet in front of the edge of the SUV’s hood on the driver’s side.
The officer then draws his gun and shootsThis is what appears to be three gunshots into the vehicle. Even as he fires the first shot, the front of the vehicle has clearly passed him as he turns right and he fires as he stands by.
What Trump, Vance and Noem say happened
Just two hours after the shooting, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement. blame the Good. The declaration, posted onclaimed that “rioters began blocking ICE agents” as the incident unfolded. No signs of rioters are visible in videos of the shooting.
“One of these violent rioters armed his vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them,” the DHS statement read. “An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement officers, and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.”
Hours later, Noem told reporters that the woman had “attacked” ICE agents “and tried to run them over” in what she described as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Trump issued a social media post Wednesday afternoon, attaching the video filmed from further away. He claimed that Good was “very disorderly, obstructive and resisting” and that she “violently, intentionally and maliciously ran over the ICE officer, who appears to have shot her in self-defense.”
None of the videos show Good’s vehicle running over the officer.
“A tragedy that she herself created”
Vance was the most vehement in suggesting the shooting was justified and blaming Good.
“The reason this woman died is because she tried to hit someone with her car,” he said Thursday at a White House news conference.
“It’s a tragedy of her own making,” Vance said. “You have a woman who pointed her car at a law enforcement officer and stepped on the gas. No one disputes that.”
Many Minneapolis officials are actually debating it. Still, Vance insisted the video evidence supported his version of events.
“When you look at that video from all angles, it’s very clear that her vehicle drove straight toward the guy. She actually collided with him. And then, of course, that’s when he fired. It’s obvious.”
The videos do not appear to show the vehicle colliding with the officer. The officer remained standing throughout the duration of the shooting and can be seen walking around the scene after the shooting with no apparent injuries.
“She was trying to hit this guy with her car. He fought back. He defended himself,” Vancehelp. He also accused media outlets that report differently about what happened of “lying about this attack.”
WATCH | White House defends ICE shooting as Minnesota officials fight back:
In the wake of the fatal ICE shooting that killed a Minnesota woman, state officials and the Trump administration are at odds over the incident and how it should be characterized. And despite blunt demands from local officials for ICE to leave the state, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her agents aren’t going anywhere.
Videos don’t support White House speech: expert
John Gross, an associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has written extensively on police use of force, reviewed the videos and concluded that what they show does not fit the White House narrative.
“The claim that this is an act of domestic terrorism is absurd,” Gross told CBC’s Power and Politics on Thursday.
“She never tried to hit the police officer who ended up shooting her,” he said.
“The notion that the vehicle was being used as a weapon or aimed at the officers is clearly not supported by the video evidence we have at the scene.”
Gross said the bullet hole just inches from the bottom corner of the driver’s side windshield indicates the officer first fired from the side of the vehicle.
He said the next two shots occurred as the car was driving away from the officer.
WATCH | How the FBI investigation into the fatal ICE shooting could unfold:
Daniel Brunner, a retired FBI agent, analyzes the Minnesota shooting and provides insight into what an investigation could look like.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also disputes the White House’s version of events.
“People in positions of power have made judgments before, from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem, have stood up and told you things that are blatantly false, blatantly inaccurate,” Walz said at a news conference Thursday.
With the two most powerful elected officials in the United States already trying to exonerate the officer, there are now concerns that the FBI’s investigation into what happened lacks independence.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a social media post On Thursday, Noem “doesn’t want an impartial investigation because she knows her narrative about domestic terrorism is bullshit.”
Frey’s message followed the announcement that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would not have access to any evidence collected by the FBI in its investigation into the shooting.
