The White House justifies the killing of a woman by an immigration agent

Washington / BarcelonaThe White House is sticking to its version of events, claiming that the death of a woman in Minneapolis at the hands of an immigration agent was an act of self-defense. Footage circulating online clearly shows the officer opening fire on Renee Nicole Good as she was slowly maneuvering her car and passing him. The Trump administration's concern over the outrage the incident has sparked is evident: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Vice President JD Vance held a last-minute press conference on Thursday to defend their account. "This is classic terrorism, and as long as a radical far-left minority is inciting violence against our brave law enforcement officers, we will not stop enforcing the law," Vance stated from the podium, again pointing to "the radical left" as "the ultimate cause of it all." "I believe she [Good] is a victim of left-wing ideology," the vice president said, assuming that this is Good's ideology, and insinuated that ultimately, she is to blame for being in the area during the raid: "It's a tragedy of her own making."

"What leads a young mother to turn up and drive her car into ICE agents who are doing their job? Did you have to be brainwashed?" he said. Good lived very close to where ICE killed her, according to the local newspaper. Star TribuneLike the witnesses who recorded his death, Good was observing the raid as part of community initiatives that have emerged to monitor the behavior of federal agents during anti-immigration operations. This is a common practice that residents of other cities targeted by ICE, such as Chicago and Washington, have also undertaken to ensure eyewitnesses in cases of police violence or abuse. Not content with this, Vance has heckled reporters and the press, accusing them of acting "irresponsibly" in reporting on the incident: "Look, this is politics, and we Republicans often get into arguments with the press about things I understand or invest in for the people. But I think it's really unacceptable that a man who defended himself after being hit by a car is guilty of murder." The FBI takes control

Meanwhile, the FBI has taken over the entire investigation, removing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the case. In a statement, the state police said they withdrew from the investigation "reluctantly." "Without full access to the evidence, witnesses, and information gathered, we cannot meet the investigative standards required by Minnesota law and the public," said Bureau Superintendent Drew Evans. The Bureau alleges that federal agents denied them access to evidence related to the fatal shooting.

Hundreds of residents have taken to the streets to protest, and the city's mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, has lashed out at ICE: "They're trying to pass this off as self-defense. After seeing the video, I want to say it directly to everyone: this is a sham, this is a load of rubbish." Visibly angry, the mayor asserted that the Department of Homeland Security's version is a "fabricated story."

The Democrat denounced that Immigration agents have been sowing chaos in the city since more than 2,000 members of the agency landed there for a large-scale operation against the Somali community. "They've taken over Minneapolis," Frey said, addressing ICE directly. For her part, Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, had already stated that the raids in the city would not stop despite the incident and insisted that the agent acted in self-defense. Her own statement: "It's clear this person was harassing and obstructing the officers."

The protests

At least eight people were arrested at the start of the latest day of protests in the city. Demonstrators gathered early in the morning in front of the federal building housing immigration enforcement agents, and the main clashes occurred when Gregory Bovino, a high-ranking U.S. Border Security official and one of the most visible figures in the Trump administration's anti-immigrant operations, arrived. Earlier in the evening, hundreds of people held a peaceful demonstration honoring the victim. Classes were also suspended in schools on Thursday.

Since September, ICE has been able to detain people based on their racial profiling – a Supreme Court ruling authorizes it – and A large proportion of the arrests are of individuals with a Latin American appearance or Black. Good was a white citizen, which further underscores that ICE is mutating under the Trump administration into a police force that goes beyond supposed immigration control.