In posts on his Truth Social platform and in comments to reporters, Trump insisted the ICE agent fired only after Good’s vehicle struck or attempted to strike law enforcement officers. “She behaved horribly,” Trump wrote, asserting she “ran over the ICE officer” and that the agent acted in self-defence even while calling the video “horrible to watch.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) echoed Trump’s message, calling Good’s alleged actions an “act of domestic terrorism.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down on that characterization at press briefings, claiming agents were impeded and harassed during the operation, according to reports from The Guardian.

The BBC reported local leaders have sharply rejected these federal claims, noting the available video footage and eyewitness accounts do not clearly support the government’s narrative, and have criticized the characterization of Good as a domestic terrorist. Minneapolis officials have called for a thorough independent investigation and for ICE’s presence in the city to end.

Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three originally from Colorado, was identified by family as a poet and community member with no known history of violent activity. She held an English degree and had won literary awards; her loved ones say she was not participating in any protest at the time of the shooting.

Protests and vigils have spread beyond Minneapolis, with critics across political lines questioning the federal response and calling for accountability as national tensions over immigration enforcement rise, reports CBS News.