Protesters united in “grief and rage” Thursday outside City Hall following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

Speakers address ICE operations locally following Good’s death

Over 1,000 people gathered in Center City, decrying the use of force in the Minneapolis shooting, along with ICE’s presence in the Philadelphia area.

ICE operations in Philly have been reported since January 2025, resulting in protests amid reports of spikes in detentions, local law enforcement agencies collaborating with ICE and threats of deportations.

Erika Guadalupe Núñez, executive director of immigrants’ rights nonprofit Juntos, called Wednesday’s deadly shooting “state-sanctioned violence” and said it was not an isolated incident.

“In Philadelphia, we have seen ICE verbally threaten and physically assault legal observers outside our local courthouse,” Núñez said, through a translator. “We have heard and seen accounts of brutality against community members as they are ripped from their neighborhoods.”

Núñez touched on firsthand accounts of alleged abuse at Moshannon Valley Processing Center the organization has received from members of the community., At least three people died at the facility last year, according to reports.

“Last year, in fact, was the deadliest year for ICE, with at least 32 deaths being directly attributed to their actions and facilities,” Núñez said.

Minneapolis shooting felt close to home as speakers address ICE operations locally

Video of Good’s killing shows multiple ICE officers surrounding an SUV stopped in the middle of the road. One officer is heard demanding the driver exit the vehicle and grabs the car handle. The SUV reverses before driving forward. A second officer, near the front of the car, fired at least three gunshots into the vehicle, striking Good.

The state’s investigations agency said Thursday that the U.S. attorney’s office has prevented it from taking part in the investigation, which will now “be led solely by the FBI,” according to the Associated Press.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has identified the officer who fired the shots as Jonathan Ross. According to the New York Times, Ross was dragged about 100 yards last year by a driver during an immigration operation in Minnesota.

ICE says Good was shot in her car after attempting to run over immigration agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said ICE officials were pushing one of their vehicles out of the snow Wednesday morning when protesters appeared. Noem said 37-year-old Good blocked federal officers with her vehicle and refused to exit her car when officers ordered her to do so and called her actions “a domestic act of terrorism.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the narrative that the shooting was done in self-defense “garbage.”

”Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody that is bulls***,” he said.

The Democrat called on ICE agents to leave the city, asserting that federal immigration authorities were ripping families apart and sowing chaos on Minneapolis streets.

Núñez said ICE does not serve to keep communities safe and instead causes harm by separating families.

“Let us be honest, if ICE is willing to shoot an ally, a white woman in the face, for documenting abuse, it is our duty to expose and condemn what they have done and will continue to do to Black and brown people behind closed doors,” Núñez said.

Jay Bergen, the pastor of the Germantown Mennonite Church, led chants and songs of unity during Thursday’s protest in Philadelphia.

“As a Christian, as a person of faith and conscience, I stand opposed to any injustice anytime that violence is used, any violence used to oppress people to tear us apart,” Bergen said. “I’m here because my heart is breaking. I’m here because ICE decided they can kill people just for trying to document, just for being present on the streets… That is [the] impunity that we have given them.”

NPR reports the shooting occurred on a residential street in south Minneapolis — less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.

On Wednesday, Avelo Airlines announced that it’s ending deportation flights on Jan. 27 after months of harsh criticism and protests. Delaware lawmakers have introduced legislation that would strip state incentives from companies that support the deportation efforts under President Donald Trump’s administration.