Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) authorized his state’s National Guard to be “staged and ready” Thursday, amid protests after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis.
Citing “potential capacity concerns from local leaders” in response to demonstrations against the shooting and the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city, Walz ordered Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, the adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard, to call up personnel, equipment and facilities “at a time deemed appropriate.”
Earlier Thursday, protesters and law enforcement clashed outside a federal immigration building in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has surged federal immigration enforcement to the city, amid the Trump administration’s probe into fraud within Minnesota’s social services programs.
The governor previously said Wednesday that he had issued a “warning order” to the Minnesota National Guard in the wake of the shooting, which occurred in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.
Brig. Gen. Simon Schaefer, the Minnesota National Guard’s joint staff director, said Wednesday the state’s guard consists of 13,000 soldiers and airmen. Schaefer added that the agency had begun preparations in the event the guard needed to activated, including equipment checks and notifying service members.
The woman who was killed has been identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Her mother, Donna Ganger, told The Minnesota Star Tribune Macklin Good lived in Minneapolis with her partner. The father of her husband, who died in 2023, told the outlet that Macklin Good has three children.
Videos of the incident show masked officers approaching Macklin Good’s car — parked perpendicularly on the street — and asking her to exit the vehicle, with one grabbing the driver’s side door handle. At that time, Macklin Good backed up the car. When she began driving forward, an ICE officer standing in front of the car fired multiple shots at her.
The car then accelerates, making contact with the officer who shot Macklin Good and crashing into a car parked on the side of the street.
The Minnesota Star Tribune identified the officer as Jonathan Ross, who ICE said was injured in June while attempting to apprehend a person who was a child sex offender who entered the country illegally.
Vice President Vance told reporters Thursday that the officer had received more than 30 stitches after the June incident and suffered “very serious injuries to his legs.” Vance and other Trump administration officials have defended the officer’s actions in Minneapolis, saying he was acting in self-defense.
Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) have disputed that account, with Frey asking immigration officials to leave the city in remarks Wednesday.
“We do not want you here,” the mayor said. “Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill and around the country have also called for the officer involved to be prosecuted.
Sarah Davis contributed to this report.