Gavin Newsom has described the shooting of an unarmed 37-year-old mother of three by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis as “state-sponsored terrorism”, after the Trump administration moved to defend the killing. The California governor’s assessment comes amid a wave of public outrage and protests across the country following the death of US citizen Renee Nicole Good on a residential street on Wednesday morning.
Newsom also attacked President Donald Trump’s role in the violence, after the White House deployed hundreds of ICE agents to Minneapolis as part of its crackdown on illegal immigration. Writing on X, Newsom said: “For almost a year, Donald Trump's personal police force has rampaged across America. His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability. Now, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen is dead.” He added: “Donald Trump owns this. His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences. His reckless crackdown must end.”
The official version of events has been disputed. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Good attempted to ram the agents, leaving the officer no choice but to fire in self-defence, and called Good’s actions an act of “domestic terrorism”. She said the officer was hit by the vehicle, taken to hospital and later released. President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the woman driving was “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer”.
However, video footage widely questioned does not show anyone being run over. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CNN that no one else had been hurt other than the victim. Mayor Jacob Frey also disputed Noem’s account, saying: “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly: That is bulls***. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.” Footage emerged of the ICE officer, who has yet to be identified, appearing to walk away after the incident.
Good’s partner was reportedly at the scene when the fatal shooting occurred, while her father-in-law described her death as “murder”. Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz said his administration would “stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice”, adding: “We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety – that someone was going to get hurt... It’s governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost someone their life.” Philosopher Dr Cornel West wrote on X: “Let us be clear: the murder of sister Renee Good in Prince’s city – Minneapolis – is not an isolated incident. It is one more step toward American-style fascism.”
