Senior Labour mayors across the United Kingdom have issued a powerful statement of solidarity with their counterpart in Minneapolis, USA, following a controversial fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
UK Leaders Voice Support for US Mayor
The collective of Labour metro mayors released a joint declaration on Friday night, 10th January 2026, backing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. This comes after his strong reaction to the shooting of mother-of-three Renee Good on Wednesday. Mayor Frey had publicly told ICE to "get the f*** out" of Minnesota in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
In their statement, the UK mayors praised Frey's leadership. "The world is witnessing the vital role mayors play in protecting our communities," they wrote. "This week, amid tragedy, Mayor Frey and supporting US mayors are demonstrating that they lead with compassion and facts, not fear and force. We stand with them as they protect the dignity and human rights of their residents."
New Video Fuels Political Dispute
The political row intensified on Friday night when local outlet Alpha News released footage of the shooting from the ICE agent's perspective. The video appears to show Renee Good turning her steering wheel to drive away from the officer before he fired three shots, calling her a "f***ing b**ch".
This new evidence directly contradicts claims from former US President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, who asserted Good was trying to run the agent over and that he acted in self-defence. A Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, echoed this view on social media platform X.
Mayor Frey has dismissed the self-defence argument as "garbage". Meanwhile, policing experts who reviewed the footage said it raised serious questions. "Now that we can see he’s holding a gun in one hand and a cellphone in the other filming, I want to see the officer training that permits that," said Professor Geoff Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina.
Who Signed the Statement?
The UK statement carries significant weight, bearing the signatures of the party's most prominent regional leaders. The signatories are:
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan
- Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham
- Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram
- West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin
- West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker
- North East Mayor Kim McGuinness
- South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard
- York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith
- East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward
- West of England Mayor Helen Godwin
Concurrently, protests erupted in Minneapolis outside a hotel believed to be housing ICE agents, with demonstrators creating noise overnight to disrupt their sleep.
The involved ICE agent, identified as 43-year-old Iraq War veteran Ross, has nearly two decades of service with Border Patrol and ICE. He was reportedly injured last year after being dragged by a driver fleeing an immigration arrest.
