At a Glance
- An ICE agent in Minnesota warned a woman filming arrests: “Have y’all not learned from the past couple of days?” two days after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer.
- The woman says agents slammed her head onto her car, handcuffed her, and threatened to shoot her while she recorded their activity near Knollwood Mall on Jan. 9.
- She told WCCO radio she is part of a community chat group that monitors ICE activity and was trying to document any arrests when agents seized her phone and detained her.
- Why it matters: The incident intensifies scrutiny of ICE tactics amid nationwide protests sparked by Good’s killing and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
A St. Louis Park, Minn., woman says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assaulted and threatened her after she used her cellphone to film their operations, just two days after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot protester Renee Good in Minneapolis.
The woman, who asked WCCO radio to withhold her name, told the station she began following ICE vehicles on Friday, Jan. 9, after learning agents had been at Knollwood Mall. She hoped to record any arrests and collect the names of people taken into custody.
The Confrontation
While driving behind the agents, she says an ICE SUV two cars ahead intentionally braked, causing a collision. She stopped, started filming from what she calls a safe distance, and told the nearest agent, “Shame on you.”
The agent replied on camera: “Listen. Have y’all not learned from the past couple of days?”
“Learned what?” she asked. “What do you want us to learn?”
“Following federal agents,” he said before grabbing her phone and ending the recording.
Detention and Alleged Assault
According to her account:
- The agent told her to leave. She refused without her phone.
- He threatened arrest for “blocking traffic,” though she insists the next lane was clear.
- He then announced she was under arrest, slammed her head onto the hood, and handcuffed her.
- While pressing her against an ICE truck, he allegedly said: “You don’t look like you could be more than 18 years old. Is this how you want to die with a f–king bullet in your skull?”
- She claims he gripped her throat until she gasped, “I can’t breathe.”
Other observers arrived and called police. Agents ordered her to the ground; seeing a gun, she says she feared being shot and began hyperventilating.
Second Threat and Release
An agent offered to let her go if she had “learned her lesson.”
“What lesson? That you’re a domestic terrorist?” she responded.
The agent answered, “We were gonna let you go, but now we’re not going to,” while colleagues laughed, she alleges.
After an unspecified time on the ground, an agent yanked her up so forcefully she fainted. She awoke on the pavement, heard agents mock her for “faking,” lost consciousness again, and later found the handcuffs removed.
Community Monitoring
The woman told WCCO she belongs to a neighborhood chat group that alerts residents to ICE activity. She believes her actions were legal and aimed at exposing “atrocities” occurring in the state.
“We need to document it,” she said. “We need to make sure that people that aren’t living in our city can see the atrocities that are happening.”
Context: Renee Good Shooting
Good was shot by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 while protesting immigration raids in south Minneapolis. Her death has ignited demonstrations nationwide against ICE operations.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Sunday she will send hundreds of additional agents to Minnesota to support ICE amid President Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement.
ICE did not respond to News Of Losangeles‘s request for comment on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Key Takeaways
- The woman’s detention illustrates heightened tension between ICE personnel and community monitors following Good’s killing.
- Video evidence exists but ends when the agent seizes the phone; witness testimony forms the core of the allegations.
- No charges have been publicly reported against the woman or the involved agents.
- The incident amplifies calls for transparency and oversight of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
