MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
An officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, shot and killed a Minneapolis woman on Wednesday. The shooting, which was captured on video by multiple observers, immediately sparked protests as community members accused the agent of murder.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Arrest the shooter. Arrest the shooter.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Coming up, we'll speak with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison about his state's investigation of the incident alongside the FBI. First, let's get the latest details. The Trump administration is calling it an act of self-defense. This as the mayor demanded that ICE get out of Minneapolis and accused the officer of recklessly using power.
MARTIN: NPR criminal justice correspondent Meg Anderson was at the intersection where it happened. And she's with us now to give us the latest. Good morning, Meg.
MEG ANDERSON, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So, like a lot of people, I was watching the coverage all afternoon. And it just seemed like details were coming out bit by bit. So what can you tell us now?
ANDERSON: Yeah. So city officials have identified the woman killed as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. We don't yet know much more about her, though. A witness I spoke to said she was there at the scene as a legal observer. Regarding what happened, community members have been very active here, tracking a surge in ICE activity around the Twin Cities. And observers were called to this intersection in south Minneapolis yesterday morning. Caitlin Callenson was there and videotaped the shooting. She says Good was in her car and received multiple conflicting instructions from officers.
CAITLIN CALLENSON: She was told to get out of her car, and she was also told to get out of the road. She was told to drive away. The ICE officer who ended up shooting her was in front of her vehicle. And when she tried to get away because someone was pulling on her door, the ICE agent who was in front of her shot through the windshield once and then twice through the side.
ANDERSON: She says when ICE officers pulled Good from the car, she was already unresponsive.
MARTIN: And as I think people who have been following this have seen and heard, we've heard conflicting interpretations from federal and local officials. So what have they been saying?
ANDERSON: Yeah. So in a press conference yesterday evening, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the officer who killed the woman. She claimed he was hit by her vehicle and shot in self-defense. In the video NPR reviewed, however, the officer can be seen walking after he fired the shots. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press conference yesterday that the video of the shooting does not corroborate Noem's account.
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JACOB FREY: Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is [expletive]. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.
ANDERSON: The city's police chief, Brian O'Hara, also spoke. He stressed that it should be very concerning whenever there's a shooting into a vehicle of someone who is not armed. And I should note, this is not the first time that ICE has shot someone inside their car. An ICE officer killed a man in Chicago in September, for instance, inside his car.
MARTIN: So what's been the atmosphere like there?
ANDERSON: Yeah, so last night, there was a very large vigil held here. And it's been mostly peaceful. There's a lot of anger and it's been very tense. Minneapolis public schools are closing for the rest of the week out of an abundance of caution. Yesterday, there were hundreds of protesters at the intersection where she was killed, chanting and calling for the shooter to be arrested. And some of the protesters told me, you know, they weren't surprised by the shooting, that ICE officers have been very aggressive towards community members in the city.
MARTIN: So what happens next?
ANDERSON: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he gave a warning order to the Minnesota National Guard yesterday, which he said is basically a heads-up in case there is unrest. And state law enforcement officials said they couldn't comment more on what is now an active investigation.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Meg Anderson. Meg, thank you.
ANDERSON: No, you're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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