For weeks, a standoff had been building between the state of Minnesota and federal immigration enforcement. On a Wednesday in January 2026, it turned deadly. An ICE officer shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, through the window of her car in south Minneapolis. Videos of the stop show Good beginning to drive away as the officer fired into the car.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said he had seen nothing to suggest the shooting was justified. The Trump administration, for its part, accused the driver of “domestic terrorism”.
After the shooting, Governor Tim Walz signed an order preparing the Minnesota National Guard to help keep the peace if unrest followed. It stopped short of activation. It staged soldiers and airmen to back up local law enforcement in protecting critical infrastructure, and it said the Guard should act only where local police resources had been exhausted.
“We have every reason to believe that peace will hold”, Walz said. At the State Emergency Operations Center, raised to its second of three levels, Brigadier General Simon Schaefer put the count of available personnel across the state at 13,000 soldiers and airmen. “The National Guard is always ready to respond.”
The governor’s message sharpened as the week wore on. He vowed to “stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice”, and he turned his anger toward Washington.
“Minnesotans, do not take the bait. Do not allow them to deploy federal troops in the air. Do not allow them to invoke the Insurrection Act. Do not allow them to declare martial law. Do not allow them to lie about the security and the decency of the state. And let this investigation play itself out”, he said.
The fight spilled past Minnesota’s borders. Republican Mary Miller of Illinois went so far as to call for Walz’s arrest. “A sitting governor threatening to deploy the National Guard against federal law enforcement is an open act of defiance. The Insurrection Act exists for moments exactly like this. Arrest Tim Walz.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the killing jointly with the FBI. Walz’s order remains in effect until he rescinds it or the calendar year ends, whichever comes first.
Sources
- Walz issues order on preparedness for Minnesota National Guard
- Walz orders MN National Guard to prepare for possible deployment following ICE killing • Minnesota Reformer
