Federal agents invoke Renee Good’s killing as intimidation escalates in Minnesota
As protests continue after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good, videos, eyewitness accounts, and a sweeping state lawsuit describe federal agents repeatedly referencing her death as a warning to civilians, intensifying concerns about excessive force and constitutional violations.
Federal immigration agents deployed across the Twin Cities have repeatedly invoked the killing of Renee Nicole Good during confrontations with protesters and bystanders, according to multiple videos and eyewitness accounts, even as Minnesota officials move to halt what they describe as a dangerously expansive federal enforcement operation.
Good, 37, was fatally shot earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a confrontation in Minneapolis. The officer has been identified as Jonathan Ross. The shooting sparked immediate protests and intensified scrutiny of a growing federal presence in the city under an operation the Trump administration has labeled “Operation Metro Surge.”
In the days following Good’s death, residents and advocates say the shooting has been used as an implicit warning by agents in the field. In one video posted to Reddit, a masked ICE agent can be heard screaming at a civilian driver, “Stop fucking following us,” while repeatedly telling him to “go home to your kids.”
The video was recorded by Phil Maddox, a Minneapolis resident who told The Intercept that he was driving around his neighborhood on Sunday morning to monitor the movement of federal agents. After briefly following one unmarked vehicle, Maddox said another car suddenly boxed him into an alley. He said he was then surrounded by agents, including at least one with a gun drawn.
As the video continues, Maddox pans his phone camera to reveal another agent standing by the passenger-side door with a handgun drawn. The masked agent continues yelling, warning Maddox that he will not “like the outcome” if he continues following them.
“You did not learn from what just happened?” the agent asks. “Go home to your kids.”
Maddox said he immediately interpreted the statement as a threat referencing Good’s killing. “They’re saying, ‘Get in our way and we’ll shoot you,’” Maddox said. “‘We have immunity, we can do what we want, and you should fear us.’”
Similar language has appeared in other encounters captured on video in Minneapolis. In footage posted to TikTok, a federal agent wearing tactical gear without any visible insignia warns multiple people that they have failed to “learn” from recent events. In one exchange, as two other agents pat down the occupants of a vehicle, the agent says, “You don’t fucking learn—what’s fuckin’ happened in the last couple of days.”
Moments later, the same agent approaches a woman filming from another vehicle. “Listen, have y’all not learned from the past couple of days?” he asks. “Have you not learned?”
“Learned what?” the woman responds. “What’s our lesson here? What do you want us to learn?”
The agent then appears to swat at the phone in her hand. “Following fucking federal agents,” he says, before the video cuts out.
For immigrant rights advocates and protesters on the ground, the meaning of the language is clear. “That’s a veiled threat, 1,000 percent,” said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos Minnesota. “They can’t exactly say it, but the way they reference Renee Good—they’re using that to strike fear.”
These encounters have unfolded amid a massive federal deployment in Minnesota. More than 2,000 federal agents were initially sent to the Twin Cities beginning January 6, with hundreds more added in subsequent days, according to federal officials. Videos from the weekend showed agents pepper-spraying observers and smashing car windows as protesters followed closely behind, blowing whistles and shouting. On Monday, footage posted to social media showed federal agents releasing clouds of tear gas on a residential street.
The escalation prompted Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, to file an 80-page lawsuit seeking to end Operation Metro Surge. The complaint, led by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, outlines what state and local officials describe as a pattern of reckless and unlawful conduct by federal agents and details the social and economic toll on the state.
“When the federal government itself violates legal rights and civic norms on such a broad scale and public panic is high, state and city governments bear the costs—both tangible and intangible,” the complaint states. “Defendants’ agents’ reckless tactics endanger the public safety, health, and welfare of all Minnesotans. Additionally, Defendants’ agents’ inflammatory and unlawful policing tactics provoke the protests the federal government seeks to suppress.”
Andrew G. Celli Jr., an attorney specializing in police misconduct and constitutional rights, said the events in Minneapolis reflect a familiar pattern. “This is a classic situation of overreacting, over-policing, and ultimately use of excessive force,” Celli said. “It’s tragic but predictable that the reaction has been as strong as it has been. And of course, when you have that kind of reaction that gets provoked, then the police, whose job it is to oversee and control crowds and demonstrations—they can sometimes overreact, and so it becomes a vicious cycle.”
Federal officials have defended the surge and portrayed recent unrest as violent and dangerous. On Wednesday night, during a separate enforcement operation in north Minneapolis, a federal officer shot a man in the leg. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer opened fire after being attacked by three Venezuelan nationals with a shovel and broom handle.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. She added that the officer had been “ambushed and attacked” and fired a defensive shot.
That night, clashes erupted between protesters and law enforcement in the Hawthorne area of Minneapolis. Police Chief Brian O’Hara said officers were struck with fireworks, ice, and snowballs. Federal vehicles were damaged, and property was stolen from inside the vehicles, according to the FBI, which later announced it was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of stolen government property or the arrest of those responsible.
President Donald Trump has cited the unrest to threaten invoking the Insurrection Act, a 19th-century law that allows the deployment of active-duty military forces for domestic law enforcement. Trump said he would use the law if Minnesota officials failed to stop what he described as “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”
Local leaders have urged de-escalation while condemning federal conduct. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, “I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and intolerable,” while also warning protesters against escalating confrontations. “We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with more chaos … Anyone who is taking the bait tonight, stop. You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also appealed for calm, saying, “Let’s turn the temperature down.” He added, “We cannot fan the flames of chaos.”
At the center of the unrest remains the killing of Renee Nicole Good. Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching her car in the middle of the street. As Good turns the wheel and appears to attempt to drive off, one agent near the front of the vehicle raises his gun and fires three shots. The FBI is investigating the shooting.
Public reaction has been deeply polarized. An online fundraiser for Good’s widow and family has raised more than $1.4 million, while a separate fundraiser for Ross has raised roughly $740,000.
As legal challenges proceed and federal deployments continue, residents and advocates say the repeated references to Good’s killing during confrontations with agents have intensified fear rather than restoring order. “That’s a veiled threat, 1,000 percent,” Argueta said.
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