Gavin Newsom has described the shooting of an unarmed 37-year-old mother-of-three by an ICE agent in Minneapolis as “state-sponsored terrorism,” after the Trump administration rushed to defend the killing.
The governor of California’s assessment comes amid a wave of public outrage and protests across the country following the shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good on a residential street on Wednesday morning.
Newsom also attacked President Donald Trump’s role in the violence, after the White House deployed hundreds of ICE agents to Minneapolis as part of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
On X, Newsom wrote: “For almost a year, Donald Trump's personal police force has rampaged across America.
“His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability. Now, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen is dead.”
He added, “Donald Trump owns this. His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences. His reckless crackdown must end.”
On his press office X account, he added: “STATE. SPONSORED. TERRORISM.”
Good’s partner was reportedly at the scene when the fatal shooting occurred, while her father-in-law has described her death as “murder.”
However, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Good attempted to ram the agents, leaving the officer responsible with no choice but to fire in self-defense, calling Good’s actions an act of “domestic terrorism.”
“The officer was hit by the vehicle. She hit him. He went to the hospital. A doctor did treat him."
"He has been released, but he's going to spend some time with his family," Noem said at a press conference.
Following the shooting, Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.”
He added: “Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital.”
However, this version of events – widely questioned – given the video doesn’t show anyone being run over, has been contradicted by Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who told CNN that no one else had been hurt other than the victim.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also disputed Noem’s description of what unfolded.
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly: That is bulls***,” he said. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
Footage has emerged of the ICE officer, who has yet to be identified, appearing to walk away after the incident.
Governor of Minnesota Tim Waltz said, “We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety – that someone was going to get hurt.
“What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict. It’s governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost someone their life.”
Waltz added that his administration is "going to stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice" after the fatal shooting, and said the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating.
"To Minnesotans I say this: I feel your anger. I'm angry.”
Philosopher Dr Cornel West wrote on X: “Let us be clear: the murder of sister Renee Good in Prince’s city – Minneapolis – is not an isolated incident. It is one more step toward American-style fascism.”
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