The White House’s official narrative that a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen in her car in Minneapolis is contradicting what appears on video of the incident.
US President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Nom said the victim, Renee Nicole Goode, deliberately rammed her car into an ISI officer and fired in self-defense, fearing for his life.
However, three videos from the scene — each verified by CBC News — contradict those claims and raise serious questions about why the White House is treating the fatal shooting as authentic.
What do the videos show?
Two of the videos were shot from street level, close to Good’s vehicle, from the rear and sides at the same angles. The third one, drawn from above, at some distance, shows the front of the vehicle.
Good’s SUV, a burgundy Honda Pilot, was seen parked horizontally on a partially snow-covered Portland Avenue, with the engine idling and the driver’s side window rolled down.
A gray pickup truck is about a car length away from the driver’s side of Goode’s vehicle. two Masked ICE officers appear, rush to the SUV, and repeatedly order it to get out. One of the officers grabbed the driver’s door handle and tried to open it.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, and now anger is fueling conflicting narratives about what happened. Andrew Chang compares video evidence to the laws surrounding the use of force and self-defense. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Then, as the SUV briefly overturns, a third ICE officer is seen exiting the front of the vehicle on the passenger side.
She turns her good front wheels to the right and her vehicle starts moving forward. At that time, the third officer appeared to be less than one meter in front of the driver’s side edge of the SUV’s hood.
Then the officer pulls his gun and shootsWhat appeared to be three shots in the vehicle. When he fired the first shot, he clearly missed the front of the vehicle when he turned to the right and shot as if he was standing next to it.
What Trump, Vance and Nom say happened
Two hours after the attack, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement. Good scolding. The statement, Posted on XAs the incident unfolded, “rioters began to block ICE officers,” he said. There is no sign of violence in any video of the shooters.
“One of these violent rioters armed her vehicle and attempted to kill our law enforcement officers,” the DHS statement read. “An ICE officer fired defensive shots out of fear for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement officers, and the safety of the public.”
A few hours later, NOM told reporters that the woman had “assaulted” ICE officers and tried to run them over, calling it “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Trump a Social media post Attaching a video shot from a distance on Wednesday afternoon. Goode said she was “very disorderly, disruptive and defiant” and “forcefully, deliberately and brutally ran over an ICE officer who appeared to have fired in self-defense.”
None of the videos show Good’s car running over the officer.
‘Self-inflicted Tragedy’
Vance remained adamant, insisting the firing was justified and blaming it on Goode.
“This woman died because someone tried to run her over with her car,” he told a White House news briefing on Thursday.
“This is a tragedy of her own making,” Vance said. “You’ve got a woman aiming her car at a law enforcement officer and hitting the accelerator. Nobody’s arguing.”
Several officials in Minneapolis are debating just that. However, Vance insists the video evidence supports his version of events.
“When you look at all the angles of that video, it’s very clear that her vehicle went right for the man. She actually collided with him. And that’s when he fired the shot. That’s clear.”
The videos do not appear to show the vehicle colliding with the officer. The officer remained on his feet throughout the shooting and was seen walking around the scene unharmed after the shooting.
“She’s trying to hit this guy with her car. He shot back. He defended himself.” Vance SHelp. He also accused the media, which was reporting the incident differently, of “lying about this attack”.
In the wake of the deadly ISIS attack in Minnesota that killed a woman, state officials and the Trump administration are at loggerheads over the incident and how it should be described. And despite clear requests from local officials for ICE to leave the state, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome said the officers aren’t going anywhere.
Videos don’t support White House narrative: expert
John Gross, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has written extensively on police use of force, reviewed the videos and concluded that what they showed did not match the narrative from the White House.
“The claim that this is some act of domestic terrorism is nonsense,” Gross told CBC Power & Politics on Thursday.
“She didn’t try to hit the officer who was ultimately shot,” he said.
“The suggestion that the vehicle was used as a weapon or aimed at the officers is not supported by the video evidence we obtained from the scene.”
According to Gross, the bullet hole located a few inches from the driver’s side of the lower windshield indicates that the officer fired first near the vehicle.
The next two shots were fired as the car was backing away from the officer, he said.
Retired FBI agent Daniel Bruner analyzes the Minnesota shooting and offers insight into what an investigation looks like.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also disputes the White House’s version of events.
“People in power, from the president to the vice president to Christie Noem, have given you the verdict and they’re going to tell you things that are definitely false and inaccurate,” Walz told a news conference on Thursday.
With two of the most powerful elected officials in the United States already trying to exonerate the officer, there are concerns that the FBI’s investigation into what happened will lack independence.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Social media post On Thursday, NOM “knows her narrative on domestic terrorism is bullshit and does not want an independent investigation.”
Frey’s post came in response to news that the Minnesota Bureau of Corrections will not have any evidence collected by the FBI as part of the shooting investigation.