The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken over the shooting death of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis amid heightened tensions across the state.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCA) Superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement that the agency will no longer be involved in the investigation into the murder of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed by federal agents in her car on Wednesday.
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“Going forward, the investigation will be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA will no longer have access to case materials, scene evidence, and interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation,” Evans said Thursday.
He added that the BCA had previously agreed to investigate the shooting, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office changed that.
Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN the FBI’s decision was “very concerning.”
Ellison said state authorities can investigate with or without federal cooperation, adding that not all of the evidence seen so far has been made public, but state authorities could be prosecuted.
According to the Washington Post, Good left behind a 15-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 12 and 6.
State and federal authorities have offered vastly different accounts of the shooting in which an unidentified ICE agent fatally shot Good, a U.S. citizen, in a residential neighborhood.
The ICE officer who shot Good was one of 2,000 federal agents that President Donald Trump’s administration announced would be sent to the Minneapolis area in what the Department of Homeland Security called “the largest DHS operation in history.”
DHS officials, including Secretary Kristi Noem, defended the shooting as self-defense and accused the woman of attempting to ram the staff member in an act of “domestic terrorism.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) called the claims “bullsh*t” and “garbage” based on bystander video of the incident that appears to contradict the government’s version of events.
Video of the incident, shot by a witness and shared online, shows two undercover police officers approaching Good’s car as it was parked on a Minneapolis street. One of the officers ordered Mr. Good out of the car and grabbed the door handle, and the car backed up momentarily, then started moving forward, then began to turn to the right, apparently in an attempt to leave the scene.
The third officer, who had been photographing the scene before going to Good’s car, pulled out his gun and fired three shots as he jumped back, the last shot into the driver’s window after the car’s bumper appeared to pass by Good’s body.
Noem was taken to a hospital and released, although the video showed no contact and the officer remained on his feet, he said. President Trump said on social media that the woman “ran over an ICE officer.”
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Following Good’s killing, demonstrators took to the streets in Minneapolis to denounce the actions of ICE officers and the agency’s widespread presence in the city, where demonstrations are frequent.
About 1,000 demonstrators gathered Thursday morning at the federal building that houses immigration court, shouting “shame” and “murder” at armed and masked federal agents.
At least one demonstrator was detained as federal agents armed with pepperball rifles and tear gas confronted a large number of demonstrators, AFP news agency reported.
Protests are taking place or planned in New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Chicago.
Demonstrations are also planned in smaller cities in Arizona, North Carolina and New Hampshire later this week.
