As the nation reels from the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis this week, the White House has aggressively spun a web of lies — not to seek clarity, but to protect its own narrative and shield federal enforcement from accountability.
From the moment the deadly encounter made headlines, the Trump administration didn’t pause for facts — it punched first with propaganda. Within hours, homeland security officials and presidential allies began labeling Good a “domestic terrorist,” claiming without evidence that she had used her vehicle as a weapon against federal agents.
But there’s a glaring problem: the video footage that’s been widely shared tells a very different story. What the clips show is a woman not charging at armed ICE officers, but rather a sequence in which her car is reversing and trying to move away before a federal agent fires multiple fatal shots. At no point does the footage clearly depict Good posing a deadly threat to the officer who killed her.
Despite that, President Trump took to social media and the press — again — doubling down on a version of events that doesn’t hold up under even cursory scrutiny. In an Oval Office interview, he insisted Good “ran him over” despite evidence suggesting otherwise.
Vice President JD Vance backed this spin in a White House briefing, leveling baseless attacks on the media and suggesting that Good was brainwashed by left-wing ideology, effectively turning the tragedy into political theatre rather than a moment for sober investigation.
And if that wasn’t enough, administration surrogates on cable news echoed this narrative, attacking Good’s character rather than grappling with why a U.S. citizen was killed by a federal agent on American soil.
Local leaders have not minced words. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz blasted the smears as “verifiably false” and said that the killing — and the administration’s rush to spin it — is eroding public trust. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey similarly condemned the White House’s defensive posture, calling the self-defense claims “bullshit” and demanding accountability.
What was supposed to be a factual recounting of a police action has instead turned into a propaganda offensive from the top of the U.S. government. Rather than waiting for results from a full, independent investigation, the White House repeatedly rushed to exculpate its own agents and discredit the victim — a woman with deep roots in her community, an artist and mother, not a terrorist.
In Minneapolis and across the country, that offensive has only intensified outrage. Because when leadership chooses spin and smears over truth, the people don’t just lose trust — they get angry.
