After fatal ICE shooting, Minneapolis mayor urges activists to avoid Trump’s ‘bait’

Published January 10, 2026
Federal agents tackle a protester to the ground before detaining him outside of the Whipple Federal Building as immigration enforcement action continues, following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US. — Reuters
Federal agents tackle a protester to the ground before detaining him outside of the Whipple Federal Building as immigration enforcement action continues, following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US. — Reuters

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday urged demonstrators protesting the fatal shooting of a motorist by a US immigration agent to stay peaceful, saying that any unlawful actions would play into US President Donald Trump’s hands.

Frey, a Democrat, cautioned them as civil liberties and migrant-rights groups prepared nationwide rallies to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday. Minnesota and US officials have offered starkly different accounts of the shooting.

Twenty-nine people were arrested overnight in Minneapolis as police responded to protests, including a gathering of demonstrators outside a hotel believed to be lodging a visiting contingent of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, city Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.

One police officer was injured in the response, O’Hara told a news conference on Saturday.

People march during a demonstration against increased immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, January 9, 2026. —Reuters
People march during a demonstration against increased immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, January 9, 2026. —Reuters

Frey, who has been critical of immigration agents and the shooting, said the demonstrations to date have remained mostly peaceful and that anyone causing damage to property or engaging in other unlawful activity would be arrested by the police.

“We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos. He wants us to take the bait,” Frey said at the news conference.

The fatal shooting of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, came soon after some 2,000 federal officers were dispatched to Minneapolis in what ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, called the “largest DHS operation ever.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, condemned the deployment as a “reckless” example of “governance by reality TV.”

O’Hara said more than 200 law enforcement officers were dispatched to the Hilton Canopy Hotel on Friday night to respond to what started as a “noise protest” but then escalated, with more 1,000 demonstrators gathered on site.

“We initiated a plan and took our time to de-escalate the situation, issued multiple warnings, declaring an unlawful assembly, and ultimately then began to move in and disperse the crowd,” O’Hara said Saturday.

Federal-state tensions escalated further on Thursday when a US Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, shot and wounded a man and woman in their car after an attempted vehicle stop. Using language similar to its description of the Minneapolis incident, DHS said the driver had tried to “weaponize” his vehicle and run over agents.

The two DHS-related shootings this week have drawn thousands of protesters to the streets of Minneapolis, Portland and other US cities, with many more demonstrations under the banner “ICE Out For Good” planned for Saturday and Sunday.

Protest organisers said more than 1,000 weekend events have been planned across the country demanding an end to large-scale deployments of ICE agents, mostly to cities led by Democratic politicians.

The rallies were being organised by a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, MoveOn Civic Action, Voto Latino, and Indivisible, some of which were at the forefront of “No Kings” protests against Trump last year.

Opinion

Respite needed

Respite needed

All one can fear is a familiar accounting exercise that aims to extract a few more rupees from a narrow, weary economic base.

Editorial

Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...
JAAC ban
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

JAAC ban

Though the JAAC’s demands are open to scrutiny, banning any political organisation — as long as it remains committed to peaceful activism — is undemocratic.
GB election
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

GB election

It is important that whichever party ultimately forms the government puts the needs of the people of GB above everything else.
ODI win
07 Jun, 2026

ODI win

AT last, the Pakistan cricket team had something to celebrate: a One-day International series victory against...