Vance uses new video to back agent

Vice President JD Vance said a new video exonerates the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good, while President Trump defended the FBI’s decision to withhold evidence from a state probe.

Tensions remained high on Friday as two separate shootings involving immigration agents in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon, drew protesters to the streets and deepened fractures between federal and state officials.

Vice President JD Vance shared newly released footage of the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on social media. Vance said the officer acted in self defense, while criticizing “media dishonesty” over the incident, but Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer thought the new video demonstrated that Good’s shooting was unwarranted.

Prosecutors in Minneapolis announced efforts to independently investigate the death of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and asked for the public’s help in acquiring evidence. The move comes after Minnesota state investigators said the FBI blocked local authorities from case materials.

“We in Minneapolis want a fair investigation,” Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference. “If you have nothing to hide, then don’t hide from it.”

Good’s wife, Rebecca Good, released a statement describing her partner as a dedicated Christian who had “stopped to support our neighbors” before she was fatally shot. “We had whistles. They had guns,” Rebecca Good said. The agent involved has been identified as Jonathan Ross, a U.S. Army veteran and former Border Patrol agent, newly released documents show.

President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said Renee Good struck an ICE agent with her car before she was shot. State officials dispute those claims.

In Portland, tensions flared after a Border Patrol officer shot and wounded two people on Thursday. Federal officials described the victims as undocumented immigrants with ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Local prosecutors said they launched an investigation and the mayor demanded that federal agents leave Portland.

More than 1,000 anti-ICE protests are scheduled nationwide for Saturday, Jan. 10 and Sunday, Jan. 11 following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

“There’s widespread anger right now. It’s organic,” said Ezra Levin, cofounder of the progressive group Indivisible, which helps organize rallies and train local activists.

−Sarah D. Wire

President Trump defended the FBI’s decision not to share evidence from the ICE shooting with Minnesota state officials during a question and answer session at the White House on Friday, July 9.

Trump said normally he would support the FBI sharing evidence, but in this case, he said, “They’re crooked officials.”

“I mean, Minneapolis and Minnesota, what a beautiful place, but it’s being destroyed,” Trump said. “It’s got an incompetent governor, fool. I mean, he’s a stupid person,” the president continued.

Trump then pivoted to false claims that he won Minnesota in the last three presidential elections. “It’s a corrupt state, a corrupt voting state, and the Republicans ought to get smart and demand on voter ID,” he said. “They ought to demand maybe same day voting and all of the other things that you have to have the safe election.”

“I won Minnesota three times and I didn’t get credit for it. I did so well in that state,” Trump said. Trump lost Minnesota his Democratic opponents in 2016 to Hillary Clinton; to Joe Biden in 2020; and to Kamala Harris in 2024.

−Dinah Pulver

Vice President JD Vance continued to show his support for the ICE agent who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, sharing footage on social media that appears to show a new perspective of the deadly interaction.

Vance reposted the clip multiple times on X, formerly known as Twitter, Jan. 9. He again said that the officer acted in self defense and criticized “media dishonesty” about the incident.

“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance wrote. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”

Others, however, saw the same video as showing Good driving away and thought it demonstrated that her shooting was unjustified.

“How could anyone on the planet watch this video and conclude what @JDVance says below?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted on X. “This whole administration – from Noem to Vance to Trump – is lying to you. We demand justice NOW.”

−N’Dea Yancey-Bragg and Nick Penzenstadler

In the wake of a deadly shooting by an immigration agent in his home state, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura and slammed President Trump and hinted at another run for office.

See Jesse Ventura slam Trump after Minneapolis ICE shooting

Jesse Ventura called President Trump a “draft-dodging coward,” hinted at another run for mayor, and called out lawmakers after ICE shooting.

Fox – Fox 9

Ventura called Trump “the draft-dodging coward who, when it was his time to serve his country, he did what all rich white boys did. I wasn’t a rich white boy. We had to go,” Ventura, 74, a Vietnam veteran and former Navy SEAL, told local reporters Jan. 8 when asked about the shooting of Renee Nicole Good. “He’s gonna tell me what courage is?”

“What occurred yesterday did not have to happen,” Ventura told reporters, calling Good’s shooting a “tragedy” and a “murder.”

“We’re a third-world country now,” said Ventura, the WWE pro wrestling hall of famer who was Minnesota governor from 1999 to 2003. “You wanna know why? I’m an expert. I’ve been there. I spent 17 months in Southeast Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf.”

–Natalie Neysa Alund

Rebecca Good, the wife of Renee Good, released a statement on Friday, calling her partner “pure joy” and describing what led up to the deadly incident.

“On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” Rebecca Good said in a statement, multiple news outlets reported, including the Washington Post and MPR News.

“Renee leaves behind three extraordinary children; the youngest is just six years old and already lost his father,” the statement continued. “I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”

In Minneapolis, Deputy Fire Chief Colm Black addressed a group of at least 30 protesters near the site where Good was killed.

“Please protest safely, and please look out for each other, and remember this is our city. We don’t want to ever have a repeat of what we had before,” Colm said. There were at least 50 police officers present on Friday afternoon.

–Corey Schmidt, St. Cloud Times

Minnesota prosecutors launched an online portal for residents to submit evidence related to the shooting in Minneapolis, vowing to probe the incident despite the FBI withholding evidence from local and state authorities.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Minnesota Attorney General’s Office launched a webpage where residents and witnesses can submit evidence related to the investigation.

“After the FBI rescinded its cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the HCAO and the MNAGO were in constant contact to determine a path forward that ensured necessary transparency for Minnesotans,” said a statement on the website of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Minneapolis protesters are expected to gather at 1 p.m. CT Saturday on the city’s southside. They will meet at the northwest corner of Powderhorn Park, near the shooting site.

Concrete barriers were put up outside the federal building in Minneapolis Jan. 9 where ICE and Border Patrol regularly meet, according to NewsNation.

– Sarah D. Wire

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced new initiatives targeting fraudsters in Minnesota on Friday which he said will be the “genesis for a national rollout.”

The announcement comes amid a deepening fraud scandal that’s enveloped state and national politics. Federal prosecutors say billions of dollars have been bilked from government-backed social programs in Minnesota since the pandemic. The DOJ has charged more than 80 people in the scandal, many of them U.S. citizens of Somali descent.

Bessent said the Treasury Department has notified four money service businesses in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which may have transferred taxpayer funds out of the U.S., that they are under investigation. Bessent said the department is specifically investigating money sent to Somalia.

Bessent said the IRS is also auditing financial institutions in Minnesota that facilitated money laundering and will launch a task force to investigate organizations implicated in sprawling fraud schemes. “Treasury will deploy all tools, all tools, to bring an end to this egregious, unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account,” Bessent said.

– N’dea yancey-Bragg

Frey has received criticism from Republicans over what they’ve described as inflammatory comments in the wake of the Minneapolis ICE shooting.

At a Friday news conference, Frey dug in further, saying he stands by his earlier statements refuting the Trump administration’s description of the shooting.

“What I said was it was a reckless abuse of power. Yes, it was a reckless abuse of power,” Frey said, speaking about the deadly incident. “I said that the narrative the administration was pushing in the immediacy following this shooting was garbage and false and BS. It was.”

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday identified the two people shot by a Border Patrol agent in Portland.

The driver of the vehicle was Luis David Nico Moncada, who DHS described as a suspected “Tren de Aragua gang member.” The agency said he entered the U.S. in 2022 and has previously faced charges for drunk driving and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

The passenger, who was the target of the traffic stop that led to the shooting, was identified as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras. DHS described her as an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela who “played an active role in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring and is connected to a recent shooting in Portland.”

Both Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras remained in the hospital. They will be released into FBI custody, DHS said.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said the state’s Department of Justice is investigating the shooting in Portland involving a Border Patrol agent.

Rayfield said the investigation will probe whether “any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority.” Cases may be referred to the Multnomah County district attorney if evidence of criminal conduct is found, Rayfield added.

In Minneapolis, the state said it was forced to withdraw from an investigation after federal authorities blocked them from accessing evidence. State and local officials in Minnesota have pressed for an independent investigation into the ICE agent’s use of deadly force, raising concerns about the integrity of a federal probe.

Several criminal justice experts viewed the footage of the Minneapolis shooting, which the Trump administration described as self-defense and state officials called a reckless abuse of power.

Diane Goldstein, a former police lieutenant and executive director of the nonprofit Law Enforcement Action Partnership, described the agent’s tactics in Minneapolis as “horrible” and “aggressive.”

“Law enforcement policy should always be about using the least amount of force and preserving people’s lives,” Goldstein told USA TODAY. She added that the footage suggests “a lack of training and a lack of understanding of what other tactics are available to de-escalate these types of situations.”

Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina, said a full investigation is needed, but said the video appears to contradict the Trump administration’s description of the incident. “It clearly looks like she was driving away,” Alpert said. “She turned her wheel and looked like she was trying to escape.”

In the aftermath of two shootings involving immigration agents, protesters on Thursday took to the streets to oppose the federal intervention.

A demonstration was held at an ICE facility in the South Portland neighborhood, which has been a consistent site for protests since last summer. The Portland Police Bureau said its officers arrested six people on suspicion of disorderly conduct and other charges.

In Minneapolis, thousands gathered for a second night of protests. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, but tensions occasionally flared, leading federal agents to use pepper spray and tear gas.

Texas Republican Rep. Roger Williams told NewsMax Friday that clashes will continue as long as Americans keep challenging immigration officials.

“We need to see some improvement in the fact that people need to quit demonstrating, quit yelling at law enforcement, challenging law enforcement, and begin to get civil,” he said. “And until we do that, I guess we’re going to have it this way and the people that are staying in their homes, are doing the right thing, need to be protected.”

–Sarah D. Wire

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared Friday a “Day of Unity” to honor Good. The governor asked Minnesotans and people across the country to observe a moment of silence at 10 a.m. to remember Good.

“Now is a time to mourn together, in peace, unity, and service. People across Minnesota will peacefully stand up for shared American values,” Walz said in the proclamation.

The proclamation encouraged neighbors, families, and community members to “care for one another in our time of grief.” It also called on churches and faith organizations to open their doors, for community members to support local businesses, and Minnesotans to participate in acts of service for their communities.

“This is a moment for us to use our collective voice to stand for decency and democracy,” Walz said.

Oregon state Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, D-Portland, echoed calls against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We do not need you,” Jama said during a news conference on Thursday evening. “You’re not welcome here and you need to get the hell out of our community.”

Jama’s message came after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey gave fiery comments at a news conference after the fatal shooting of Good by immigration agents. State and local officials have demanded that federal authorities conduct a full and transparent investigation into the shooting.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has called on ICE to halt all operations in the city until an investigation is completed.

“We know what the federal government says happened here,” Wilson said at the news conference. “There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”

The shooting in Portland is just the latest involving federal agents carrying out Trump’s immigration enforcement around the country.

On Wednesday, Good was fatally shot by immigration agents in Minneapolis. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good “weaponized” her SUV to run over agents in an act of “domestic terrorism.” Local officials, citing video of the incident, vehemently disputed Noem’s account and called for the officer involved to be arrested.

In Maryland on Dec. 24, two people were wounded during an immigration enforcement action when the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over federal agents, according to federal officials. Agents at the scene shot the driver, and he crashed the vehicle. The passenger was wounded in the crash.

Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant, was shot and killed by federal agents outside Chicago on Sept. 12. Homeland Security officials said the man resisted arrest and dragged an agent with his car. Video evidence from the scene shows the agent describing his wounds as “nothing major.” Villegas-Gonzalez’s lawyer and others have called for a full investigation into the shooting.

– Michael Loria

The federal immigration officer who shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis this week is a U.S. Army veteran with deployments to Iraq and years of experience, newly released records show.

Jonathan Ross, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal officer based in Minnesota, told a court about his career in December, during the criminal trial of a man who dragged Ross with a car, badly cutting Ross’ arm and hand.

Ross told the court he served in the Indiana National Guard and deployed from 2004 to 2005 to Iraq as a machine gunner on a gun truck and served on a combat logistical patrol team, delivering essential supplies in dangerous areas.

Vance uses new video to back agent

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