What we're covering here
• New footage: Video captured by an ICE agent gives a raw, up-close perspective of the pivotal moments surrounding his fatal shooting Wednesday of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Vice President JD Vance retweeted it, saying it shows the officer was endangered.
• National protests: Protests and vigils are taking place nationwide after the agent fatally shot the Minneapolis mother, deepening tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. View CNN’s video analysis of the incident.
• Scrutiny over investigation: Amid calls for a transparent investigation, the FBI has taken over the probe, with one of Minnesota’s top investigative agencies saying it has been blocked from accessing key materials. City officials today reiterated pleas to be involved in the investigation.
What is Alpha News, the Minnesota outlet that first obtained the ICE agent's cellphone footage?
A little-known conservative outlet in Minnesota was the first to obtain cellphone footage captured by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent involved in Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Renee Good.
Alpha News first published the video on X, where it was then boosted by Vice President JD Vance, who claimed it showed that ICE agent Jonathan Ross’s “life was endangered and he fired in self defense.” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin similarly shared the video, writing that it “corroborates what DHS has stated all along.”
Alpha News describes itself as “a team of independent journalists with a mission of reporting stories that go untold by our state’s mainstream media.”
The nonprofit newsroom’s 2015 launch was publicly promoted by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported at the time, and “Many of the initial news stories from Alpha News cover issues which have been advocated by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance.”
The outlet’s president, Alex Kharam, is the executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Club, which is “organized to educate the public about conservative principles and economic prosperity.”
In 2023, Alpha News produced “The Fall of Minneapolis,” a controversial documentary questioning mainstream accounts of George Floyd’s death and criticizing narratives around systemic policing issues.
Alpha News has a sizable online presence, with roughly 291,000 followers on Facebook and 117,000 on X. The outlet did not respond to a request for comment.
Hundreds of mourners continue heading to scene of killing as police enact crowd control
Hundreds of people continue to stream into the site of where Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis to pay their respects and mourn the mother of three at her memorial where the crowd has only grown by the hour.
The Minneapolis Police Department has reopened Portland Avenue, where Good was fatally shot, to through traffic on Friday and officers are serving as crowd control at the site and surrounding intersections, according to CNN affiliate WCCO.
The entire street was blocked off by protesters with makeshift barriers on Thursday, which was broken down by city agencies overnight, WCCO reported.
Visitors are arriving at the memorial from around the state and the Midwest to mourn Good, leaving flowers, signs and other mementos, WCCO reported.
Video of Renee Nicole Good’s fatal shooting is “deeply disturbing,” UN spokesperson says
United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the video footage he saw of Renee Nicole Good’s fatal shooting is “deeply disturbing” during a news briefing today.
He went on to defend the right to peaceful protest.
Trump says he hasn’t seen Vance’s comments claiming woman killed by ICE was part of left-wing network
President Donald Trump said Friday that he hadn’t seen Vice President JD Vance’s comments claiming Renee Nicole Good was a part of a “broader left-wing network.”
In a press briefing Thursday at the White House, Vance stood strongly behind the ICE agent and suggested the victim was part of some kind of left-wing “network.”
Trump on Friday went on to comment on another woman he’d seen in a video of the incident. “Look, I watched that yesterday, and there are a lot of lot of different forms to it, but there was a woman screaming, ‘Shame, shame, shame, shame.’ She was a agitator, probably a paid agitator, but in my opinion, she was an agitator, a very high-level agitator, so professional, she wouldn’t stop screaming,” Trump said.
Flowers and tributes pour in at memorial for Renee Good at rally organized by Somali community in Minneapolis
Flowers and tributes to Renee Good poured in at a memorial in Minneapolis during a rally today held by members of the city’s Somali community, dedicated to the mother who was killed by an ICE agent this week, video footage from CNN affiliate WCCO shows.
Scores of people stood side by side as Somali leaders who organized the event shared their grief and stood in solidarity with Good, whose death they said, “has shaken communities across the city” and the country while demanding justice and accountability.
“Renee was a real person, a neighbor, a loved one, a loved one without a life, a loved one with a life that mattered,” said a leader of the Somali American Leadership Table (SALT), who added Good was known for “looking out for those around her, including Somali neighbors.”
Another Somali speaker and organizer read aloud a poem written by Good “to remember her in her own words” as he described the mother of three as a poet and a “brave person,” according to WCCO footage.
Good’s killing came as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration crackdown this week in Minnesota, where federal immigration authorities have been deployed since December in an operation targeting the state’s Somali population.
Tensions are high between ICE agents and communities after shootings this week. Catch up on the latest
As some people attended vigils held from New York to Portland, others took to the streets to express anger and frustration after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, deepening tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Here’s what you should know:
Investigation into Minneapolis shooting: Mutual distrust between federal and state authorities derailed plans for a joint FBI and state criminal investigation into Wednesday’s shooting, leading to the highly unusual move by the Justice Department to block state law enforcement from participating in the probe. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal government should allow local involvement to ensure “a fair investigation.”
Remembering a wife and mother of three children: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared today a “Day of Unity” to honor the memory of Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman shot and killed by an ICE agent. Her wife, Becca Good, expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support her family has received in a statement to Minnesota Public Radio. She described Renee as kind and said she “was made of sunshine.”
New cellphone video: Video captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross gives a raw, up-close perspective of the pivotal moments surrounding his fatal shooting of Renee Good. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the newly released video backs up what the agency has said – the ICE agent acted in self-defense.
Calls for ICE to leave: Teachers with Education Minnesota held a news conference Friday morning, calling for ICE to stay away from their schools, saying they “must be places of safety, learning and belonging.” And Frey said he stands by the statements he made on Wednesday when he told ICE to “get the f**k out of Minneapolis.” High school students in the Twin Cities metropolitan area staged a march on Friday to protest federal immigration enforcement activity.
Ongoing protests: Two people were detained and released outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis area Friday afternoon.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Karina Tsui, Andy Rose, Kristen Holmes, Rebekah Riess, Alisha Ebrahimji, Nicquel Terry Ellis, Andi Babineau, Holmes Lybrand, Justin Lear and Sarah Dewberry, Sarah Boxer and Emma Tucker contributed reporting.
Meanwhile: Trump claims he won Minnesota three times, but he lost to Clinton, Biden and Harris
Another reason for President Donald Trump’s obsessive interest with Minnesota became clear on Friday.
“I feel that I won Minnesota,” Trump said today during a meeting with oil executives at the White House. “I think I won it all three times.”
That, however, is not true.
He lost Minnesota to Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
Minnesota could be called the reddest blue state in the United States, one that the Democratic presidential nominee hasn’t lost since 1972, but those wins have frequently been at close margins.
From his first presidential campaign a decade ago, Trump’s aides told him that Minnesota was within his grasp. He aggressively fought to win the state, but failed all three times, according to the certified vote tallies.
In his race with Clinton, he fell short 1.5% or more than 44,500 votes. Four years later, he lost to Biden by 7% or more than 233,000 votes. And in his contest with Harris, he lost by 4% or more than 130,000 votes.
While Trump has long held up his contempt for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, as the reason he has made the state the latest centerpiece of his immigration fight, he offered another reason today that had nothing to do with Walz.
“I won Minnesota three times,” Trump said, “and I didn’t get credit for it.”
But that statement, like so many of his claims of election fraud, is not rooted in fact.
More than 1,000 protests planned nationwide this weekend by “ICE out for good” coalition
More than 1,000 demonstrations calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave local communities are scheduled this weekend across the country, mobilized by a national coalition of advocacy groups, according to their news release.
The coordinated “ICE Out For Good” events are planned for Saturday and Sunday in response to “the escalation of ICE violence in our communities,” the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good as well as “the months-long pattern of unchecked violence and abuse in marginalized communities across America,” the coalition said.
All events organized by the coalition will bring together people who will gather in “nonviolent, lawful, and community-led” actions to honor the people who have died in ICE confrontations and demand accountability, said the coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union and the 50501 protest movement.
Dozens of high school students in greater Minneapolis area march to protest ICE activity
Dozens of high school students in the Twin Cities metropolitan area staged a march on Friday to protest federal immigration enforcement activity following the fatal shooting of Renee Good.
The students first gathered at White Bear Lake High School and are set to reach White Bear Lake City Hall, CNN affiliate KARE reported. They were seen chanting and holding up signs peacefully while walking on the sidewalk near a road, aerial footage from KARE shows.
Meanwhile, all public schools in the city of Minneapolis were closed Thursday and Friday “due to safety concerns” and following a heated confrontation involving Border Patrol agents and community members outside Roosevelt High School on Wednesday, CNN has reported.
Families and educators in the city continue to demand ICE stay out of schools, saying immigration enforcement on school grounds does “the exact opposite of making school safe,” said Natasha Dockter, a leader with the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators.
DHS reacts to ICE agent's cellphone footage: "The officer was in fear of his own life"
The Department of Homeland Security has once again doubled down on its previous argument that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross was acting in self-defense in his fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
“This footage corroborates what DHS has stated all along—that this individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to federal law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement obtained by CNN following the release of Ross’s cellphone footage capturing the pivotal moments surrounding the shooting.
“The officer was in fear of his own life, the lives of his fellow officers and acted in self-defense. The American people can watch this video with their own eyes and ears and judge for themselves,” McLaughlin wrote.
"This kindness of strangers is the most fitting tribute." Renee Good's wife offers thanks for support
Becca Good, the wife of Minneapolis ICE shooting victim Renee Good, released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio expressing her thanks for the outpouring of support her family has received.
A family source in Minneapolis confirmed the veracity and contents of the statement to CNN.
ICE agent's cellphone captures fatal confrontation in Minneapolis
Video captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross gives a raw, up-close perspective of the pivotal moments surrounding his fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
A DHS official confirmed the video, obtained by CNN, was recorded on the agent’s cellphone camera; the video was originally obtained by the conservative Minnesota media outlet Alpha News.
Vice President J.D. Vance retweeted it, saying it shows the officer was endangered.
“Watch this, as hard as it is. Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense,” Vance posted on X.
The video begins with Ross in front of the vehicle driven by Good, who had stopped her burgundy SUV perpendicular to the street, obstructing the flow of traffic. Ross does not say anything as he walks across the front of the car toward the driver’s side of the car.
As he rounds the car, Good can be seen with her window down looking directly at the officer.
In the video, Good then talks to Ross.
“That’s fine dude. I’m not mad at you,” she says. Ross does not respond. In the car window a reflection can be seen of Ross, holding his phone up, as he continues to walk. You can also hear the victim’s wife, Becca Good say “show your face” to Ross.
The video shows Ross walking around to the back of the car. Becca Good, the passenger in the car, who had gotten out of the vehicle prior to the confrontation, tells Ross that, “We don’t change our plates every morning, just so you know. This will be the same plate when you come talk to us later.”
She holds a cellphone up to Ross’s face as she addresses Ross.
“You wanna come at us? You wanna come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy,” she says to Ross. She then tries to get back in the car, but the door is locked.
You then hear another officer tell Good, the driver, to “get out of the fucking car.”
Good is then seen reversing the car and glancing forward as she turns the steering wheel to the right, away from where the officer is standing. The car moves forward, and Ross cries out “whoa” and then three gunshots are heard in rapid succession.
The video does not show if the SUV made contact with Ross, as the camera angle jerks up to the sky. An earlier video shot by a bystander shows that the SUV may have made contact with Ross as it lurches forward, and he moves to the side.
The shooting itself is not visible, but three gunshots are heard as the phone in his hand jostles further and then is facing the house behind Ross.
The camera then captures the SUV as it barrels forward. Someone can be heard uttering “fucking bitch.”
The impact of the SUV crashing into a parked car can be heard as well as the camera pans down to the street.
This post has been updated.
Two people briefly detained outside federal building in Minneapolis area
Two people were detained and released a short time later outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis area Friday afternoon.
Before they were detained, one of them appeared to use her hand to hit an Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV as it drove past the crowd of protesters, a CNN crew on the scene witnessed.
After the ICE vehicle came to a stop, officers swarmed the woman and a man who was with her, detaining the them. The officers were also seen moving the crowd away from the vehicle.
The man and woman, who only identified themselves as Jessica and Nicholas, said they were released and told to tell others not to cross the double yellow line on the road, they told CNN.
“They didn’t know who was in charge of what. They just kept calling other people,” Jessica said about the federal agents.
She told CNN she hit the vehicle with her hand “because they pissed me off. Just being here pisses me off.”
Local officials push back against Vance's claims on "absolute immunity." Here's what experts say
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey today challenged Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the ICE agent who killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good will be “protected by absolute immunity.”
“This concept of absolute immunity is pretty bizarre, very concerning,” Frey said. “It’s extremely concerning. That’s why we’re asking for the BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) to be part of the investigation.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty agreed, saying during a separate news conference today that “the ICE officer does not have complete immunity here.”
Legal experts have also disputed Vance’s notion that the officer will have absolute immunity.
“The idea that a federal agent has absolute immunity for crimes they commit on the job is absolutely ridiculous,” Michael J.Z. Mannheimer, a constitutional law expert at Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law, told CNN.
Mannheimer said federal officers can be criminally pursued by state prosecutors for conduct during their official duties. However, it’s ultimately up to courts to ultimately determine whether they can be shielded from the charges.
“Officers are not entitled to absolute immunity as a matter of law,” Timothy Sini, a former federal prosecutor in New York, also told CNN.
Watch what Frey said here:
Vice President JD Vance claimed that an ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is “protected by absolute immunity.” Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back on Vance's claim that has also drawn scrutiny from other legal experts.
Minnesota AG and county attorney ask public for video, photos and information after Good's shooting death
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it has jurisdiction to determine “appropriate action” following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent this week.
“It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference today. “To be sure, there are complex legal issues involved when a federal law enforcement officer is involved, but the law is clear, we do have jurisdiction to make this decision.”
In order to make a decision, Moriarty said her office is moving forward in collaboration with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to “preserve any evidence and ensure that it can be reviewed.”
“We are asking those in our community who have information or who have video or photos of the event to submit that information to our office,” Moriarty said.
“I know our community wants fast answers. I know this city feels, again, as if it is at the center of a national fight,” the county attorney noted. “I wish I could promise a swift decision and the resolution that you want, but I cannot promise you that right now.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison added that “there is no conclusion that anyone can reach in good faith at this time, because there’s too much evidence still to be evaluated.”
Ellison also urged anyone who may have video, was on the scene, or who saw what happened, to submit evidence to them.
A "full investigation" is needed on ICE shooting in Minneapolis, Speaker Johnson says
House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN a “full investigation” is needed after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis.
When asked if the White House moved too quickly in making determinations without an investigation, Johnson said:
The House leader said he believes the investigation is “the appropriate thing” and will “verify what’s on the video,” pointing to claims that “the officer involved was operating in self-defense.”
Johnson pushed back against Democrats who are calling for funding cuts to the Department of Homeland Security in response to aggressive ICE enforcement activities, controversy brought into sharper focus with the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent this week.
Parents and educators describe CBP agent clash with community members outside Minneapolis school as “horrific”
After a moment of silence for Renee Nicole Good, parents and educators with the group Minneapolis Families for Public Schools held a news conference this morning to address ICE’s impact on their communities, calling for accountability and the removal of ICE from Minnesota.
Natasha Dockter, a leader with the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, said ICE’s presence near schools was disruptive, noting the clash outside Roosevelt High School on Wednesday “violated” the school’s “safe and stable environment.”
“Immigration enforcement should never, under any circumstances, be on school grounds,” Dockter said. “They do the exact opposite of making school safe.”
“Wednesday’s event at Roosevelt was horrific and dramatic for our members, students and community,” she added.
A parent of a Minneapolis high school student echoed Docker’s concerns.
“Our children experienced repugnant behavior from federal agents with zero regard for their safety — agents carrying weapons and video cameras, tackled and abducted community members, including our teachers on school grounds,” Christin Crabtree, who is also a member of Minneapolis Families for Public Schools, said.
Flash bangs and chemical irritant briefly deployed at protesters
As protesters gathered outside of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis area for a second day, they were briefly met with flash bangs and a chemical irritant that felt like a pepper spray, a CNN crew on the scene witnessed.
The crowd had been using bells and bullhorns but after the law enforcement actions the sentiment among protesters shifted to a calm.
Minneapolis mayor says he stands by his comments following ICE shooting
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he stands by the statements he made on Wednesday when he told US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis” and said the Trump administration was pushing a “bullshit” narrative about the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
Frey said during a news conference today he maintains the shooting was “reckless abuse of power.”
“And you know this notion of inflammatory comments… I mean, come on, guys, you know, I dropped an F-bomb,” Frey said after a reporter mentioned that Trump administration officials were blaming him for increased tensions in Minneapolis. “I dropped an F-bomb. They killed somebody. Which one of those is more inflammatory? I’m going with the killing somebody.”
Frey also urged the public to view the footage of the shooting and not to rely on conclusions from public officials on who was responsible for Good’s death.
“Don’t take my word for it, don’t take their word for it,” Frey said. “Watch the video from every single angle.”
Those interested in public safety "must be invested in accountability,” state Rep. says
Speaking about the lessons Minneapolis learned from the killing of George Floyd in 2020, Minnesota state Rep. Aisha Gomez said an investment in accountability and transparency is key.
“If you actually are interested in public safety, if you actually are interested in the legitimacy of a law enforcement force in your community — then you must be invested in accountability, in transparency and in fair investigations when bad things happen,” said Gomez, a Democrat who represents District 62A on the south side of the city,
With respect to the investigation into the shooting of Renee Good, Gomez said there was only one question to consider.
“Are we going to design a process that’s legitimate or not?” Gomez said.
