Killing of woman in Minneapolis reflects a nationwide pattern

A disconnect among federal, local agencies may increase armed standoffs, expert says.

- BY ITZEL LUNA

PROTESTERS gather in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a federal agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37.

(NICOLE NERI For The Times)

It was the type of standoff that has become routine since the Trump administration launched its immigration crackdown in June: Unmarked federal vehicles, sirens blaring, move toward a maroon SUV stopped crosswise in the middle of a residential road in Minneapolis.

Bystander video shows the driver seeming to wave them by, as one of the vehicles passes and two immigration agents approach her car on foot.

"Get out of the f--- car," one of them yells and yanks at the door handle. The driver backs up to straighten the car out, and then turns right and drives forward, as a third agent at the front left corner of the vehicle draws his gun and shoots three times at close range, the video shows.

The car lunges forward and strikes a vehicle down the street. The driver, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, is dead.

The shooting on Wednesday is the latest in a number of confrontations around the country in which agents have fired on drivers they alleged were using their vehicles as weapons.

"This doesn't surprise me and until something changes dramatically this probably, and I say this sadly, won't be the last tragic incident involving ICE and protesters," said Jim Bueermann, founder and president of the Future Policing Institute.

Increasing immigration enforcement operations nationwide, coupled with lack of uniformed training for agents and a disconnect between federal operations and local coordination means more armed confrontations are likely, Bueermann said.

Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, said the officer opened fire in Minneapolis because he feared for his life during "an act of domestic terrorism." She said Good had "proceeded to weaponize her vehicle and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over."