Noem tells Minnesota investigators to butt out of ICE shooting case

MANHATTAN (CN) — Federal investigators could be the only ones probing the slaying of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minnesota by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Noem, who spoke to reporters in Manhattan on Thursday about ICE operations in New York City, was asked to respond to reports that federal agencies are withholding evidence from Minnesota investigators, effectively cutting them out of the probe into Good’s death.

“They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation,” Noem said.

Standing on the 50th floor of One World Trade Center in Downtown Manhattan, where Customs and Border Patrol has an office in the iconic skyscraper, Noem announced a citywide immigration enforcement operation that resulted in the arrest of 54 noncitizens — purportedly tied to transnational gangs — following the shooting of an off-duty CBP officer over the summer.

But the presser was overshadowed by the fatal on-camera shooting of Good, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

The incident has sparked outrage nationwide, as the Trump administration’s unprecedented mass deportation efforts continue to escalate in violence. Videos of Good’s killing spread rapidly on social media, while Noem and other administration officials defended the actions of the unnamed ICE officer and likened Good to a radical leftist and a “domestic terrorist” who was using her vehicle to disrupt law enforcement.

Noem doubled down on those comments Thursday, telling reporters that Good’s vehicle was “used as a weapon” to hit the officer, who responded with lethal force.

“The officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy,” Noem said. “It was used to perpetuate a violent act. This officer took action to protect himself and to protect other law enforcement officers.”

Democratic lawmakers around the country broadly condemned the shooting as a grisly, unnecessary act of violence by federal law enforcement. Some pointed to the multiple angles of video footage capturing the shooting, where the firing ICE agent appears to be out of the path of Good’s vehicle when he fired not one but three shots.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Thursday that he’s dubious of the federal probe into the incident.

“It feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome,” Walz, a Democrat, said at a news conference. “And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment, from the president to the vice president, to Kristi Noem have stood and told you things that are verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate. They have determined the character of a 37-year-old mom that they didn’t even know.”

As it stands, the FBI will lead the investigation. With federal agencies declining to cooperate with state investigators, Minnesota prosecutors may be unable to bring a case of its own against the shooter.

The ICE agent is yet to be identified. Noem referred to him as an “experienced officer” Thursday, but declined to detail his work history or where he is from. She also ducked questions about whether he has been suspended or is still in the field.

“He went to the hospital, he received treatment and he’s spending time with his family now,” Noem said.

Noem, who was previously the governor of South Dakota before President Donald Trump tapped her to lead Homeland Security last year, broadly urged Democratic lawmakers to cooperate with federal immigration agents going forward. She put the onus of Good’s shooting on them, blaming the incident on anti-ICE rhetoric from the likes of newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

ICE will continue its operations in New York City, Noem added. She declined to say whether the city will see a “surge” of officers patrolling the streets, but indicated the 54 arrests were “just the beginning of a broader, and a much more sustained effort to go after not only transnational criminal organizations and networks but also illegal criminal aliens throughout the country.”

Protests continue across the country following Good’s shooting, including in Lower Manhattan where Noem spoke to reporters.

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