After new footage from the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents from the shooter's perspective was released, Vice President J.D. Vance took the opportunity to double down on his defense of the officer on social media.
Minnesota-based media outlet Alpha News posted a video on social media showing the controversial shooting from the ICE officer's point of view. The Vice President replied on X, urging users to "Watch this, as hard as it is. 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. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense."
Watch this, as hard as it is. 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.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 9, 2026
The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense. https://t.co/IfXAAxi9Ql
In another post replying to Alpha News, Vance wrote, "What the press has done in lying about this innocent law enforcement officer is disgusting. You should all be ashamed of yourselves." He also called Good a "deranged leftist who tried to run" an ICE officer over.
What the press has done in lying about this innocent law enforcement officer is disgusting. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. https://t.co/IfXAAxi9Ql
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 9, 2026
With these posts, Vance is doubling down on the Trump administration's narrative that the shooting was self-defense. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Vice President also claimed that Good was part of "a group of left-wing radicals [who] have been working, tirelessly, sometimes using domestic terror techniques, to try and make it impossible for the president of the United States to do what the American people elected him to do, which is enforce our immigration laws."
Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement on social media stating, "Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism."
Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.…
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 7, 2026
The original videos of the incident posted on social media, taken by several witnesses to the shooting, show Good in a dark red Honda SUV being approached by ICE officers as she is told to get out of her vehicle. The officers walk up to her car and try to open the driver's side door before the woman tries to take off, grazing another officer, who opens fire on the driver.
In a report by the Associated Press, Good's ex-husband, who asked not to be named for his safety, revealed that she was not involved in activism or protest at the time of the encounter. He told reporters she had only dropped her young son off at school and was driving home when the shooting occurred.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE have described the incident as involving a rioter who allegedly attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against agents. But family members, friends, and the ex-husband paint a very different picture of Good, focusing on her life as a mother, poet, and community member, not a political actor.
Good's widow, Becca, also broke her silence, releasing a statement to MPR News saying that "kindness radiated out of her" and that she "lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow." She also added that "On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns."
