If you thought this week’s federal ICE killing in Minneapolis was an isolated tragedy, think again. This episode — in which a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a 37-year-old driver during a massive enforcement raid — appears to be the ninth time in roughly four months that ICE officers have opened fire at people in vehicles, according to data reported by multiple news outlets.
That’s not a trend. That’s a pattern of paramilitary engagement on American streets that’s badly missed by everyone from DHS spokespeople to close-the-gates activists.
The latest shooting unfolded Jan. 7 in south Minneapolis — where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was killed after an ICE agent fired into her SUV. Federal authorities rushed to tag the encounter as self-defense and even labeled her actions “domestic terrorism,” but bystander video throws a glaring wrench into that narrative, showing the vehicle angled away as the agent opened fire.
What few mainstream outlets have bluntly connected: this isn’t a one-off. According to reporting based on law enforcement data, similar shootings — all involving ICE officers firing at people inside cars — have popped up repeatedly over recent months in several cities. That collective pattern should raise alarms on its own: federal agents are repeatedly pulling triggers in scenarios where vehicles, not guns, are the primary element, and where the threat level is murkier than DHS claims.
Even federal officials seem dimly aware that these cases are piling up. Vice President J.D. Vance has publicly defended the Minneapolis agent, dredging up previous incidents in which officers were injured and implying that traumatic past encounters justify firing into vehicles now. But that’s defense-industry logic, not a policy that deserves public trust.
Local leaders are absolutely livid. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted ICE’s official self-defense narrative as “bulls—,” saying the federal account contradicts what video evidence actually shows and that such heavy enforcement only “causes chaos and distrust” in communities.
Meanwhile, use-of-force experts say repeatedly shooting into cars — especially when drivers are pulling away or not clearly attacking — contradicts basic law enforcement guidelines designed to minimize harm.
And that’s the rub: the federal government keeps sending heavily armed agents into cities thousands of miles from any border, systematically intersecting with civilians in ways that repeatedly end in bullets. Calling them “vehicle incidents” doesn’t change the fact that American residents are dying after federal agents decide a car equals a deadly threat.
It’s time to stop treating these as accidents — because nine of them in four months is no accident. It’s a choice.
