Dispute over investigation into Minnesota ICE killing grows

Federal, state and municipal officials in the United States are disputing how to conduct an investigation into Wednesday's shooting death of a woman at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minnesota's largest city, Minneapolis.

The victim, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was shot by an ICE officer near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue.

Initial claims that the ICE agent shot the victim in Minneapolis in self-defense have been disputed following the release of several pieces of footage from witnesses and officers at the scene, where relatives say Good, a mother of three, was killed after returning from a school dropoff.

The incident has sparked protests in Minneapolis and in other US cities. ICE agents also  shot and injured two people in the state of Oregon on Thursday.

After initially announcing a joint investigation with state officials, the Trump administration has given the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sole jurisdiction and excluded state and municipal authorities from the investigation.

Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), said that meant that his state law enforcement agency would no longer be able to access case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews.

On Friday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for the joint investigation to be reinstated, saying the BCA had "consistently run these investigations before." Frey said: "If it's not a problem to have additional people at the table that have a deep commitment to the process, and transparency, and have run these investigations before, then why not include them in the process?"

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have said they would collect witness videos and statements for an investigation into whether the ICE officer should be charged at the state level.

In a statement, Evans said BCA had offered "limited assistance" to Moriarty's office to collect, catalog and preserve evidence related to the incident "so that it is not lost." He said cataloged evidence would be provided to the FBI.

But it is disputed whether the federal agent could face state charges. US Vice President JD Vance said the officer has "absolute immunity" from state prosecution.

Moriarty acknowledged that barriers exist to prosecuting federal officials at the state or county level, but disagreed with Vance's declaration that the agent's immunity is "absolute."

"We do have jurisdiction to make this decision with what happened in this case," Moriarty said on Friday. "It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent."

Federal and state agencies have previously collaborated on investigations, perhaps most notably in the investigation into the high-profile 2020 police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Videos providing multiple views of the incident have been published online or obtained by media.

Angles show Good's vehicle being approached by ICE officials while parked 90 degrees to the curb along a suburban street.

In some footage, Good is ordered to leave the car by an ICE officer at the scene. The vehicle then reverses, moves forward and to right appearing to move away from officer at the scene.

A third officer, shown to be filming the interaction on a cellphone, draws a gun and fires three shots at the vehicle. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the officer had been dragged by a fleeing vehicle in an ICE operation in June.

Media have identified the officer as a former member of the Indiana National Guard who was deployed to Iraq in 2004 an 2005 and has been an ICE officer since 2015.