US woman violently dragged out of car & detained by ICE agents

U.S. citizens are allegedly forcefully being detained by federal immigration agents in the Minneapolis area, as Minnesota reels from an expanded federal enforcement operation launched after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.

Good, 37, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by ICE officer Jonathan Ross during a confrontation in Minneapolis as agents tried to remove her from her vehicle.

The incident has fuelled protests, clashes with federal agents and legal action by state and city authorities, reported U.S. media.

Violent detentions in Minneapolis

Chaos erupted in a Minneapolis neighbourhood on Tuesday when federal officers surrounded a car near the site where Good was killed, smashed a window and dragged a woman from the vehicle, video footage showed.

This could be the reason that Renee Good decided to drive away from ICE rather than being dragged out of her car and ending up like this woman.pic.twitter.com/a1xVlbF28e

— Richard (@Richard75155048) January 13, 2026

The woman could be heard shouting that she was disabled and trying to visit the doctor as agents used knives to cut her seatbelt before pulling her out.

Another young teen in a reflective vest, 17, was also seen being hauled away by federal agents from the entrance of a Target store as bystanders yelled at officers.

DAMN : ICE grabbed a 17yo Target worker at his job, despite him saying he’s a US citizen. After confirming he was, they dumped him in a Walmart lot 8 min away. Bystanders found him sobbing, bleeding: “They slammed me on the ground.” pic.twitter.com/EhIoAEdxfU

— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) January 12, 2026

“I’m a U.S. citizen!” the worker shouted as the armed agents shoved him. “U.S. citizen! U.S. citizen!”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later claimed on social media that “this individual was arrested for assaulting federal law enforcement officers”.

Minnesota state representative Michael Howard accused ICE of going on a “rampage across Minnesota” following Good’s death, according to The Guardian.

Protests, teargas and mass deployments

Protests soon erupted in Minneapolis and spread across Minnesota after Good’s killing.

On Tuesday (Jan. 13), crowds gathered near federal buildings and in neighbourhoods where agents were operating.

DHS said eight people were arrested outside a federal building, while demonstrators reported being hit with teargas, pepper balls and flash bangs.

Witnesses described agents in tactical gear and gas masks patrolling in unmarked vehicles.

In one scene, gas filled a street near where Good was shot as a man screamed for help after being sprayed with an irritant. Students in some Minnesota towns walked out of school in protest.

Federal authorities have also rapidly expanded their presence in the wake of Good’s shooting.

A DHS official told CBS News there were about 800 CBP agents and 2,000 ICE officers deployed in the Minneapolis area, in what the administration has called its largest DHS operation.

Constitutional fight

President Donald Trump defended the agents in Minnesota as “patriots” and warned of a coming “reckoning”, emphasising that the federal officers were in the state to remove criminal undocumented immigrants.

He posted on Truth Social:

“FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blamed local Democratic leaders for inflaming tensions, saying their rhetoric had encouraged people to obstruct ICE, as cited by CNBC:

“They’ve extremely politicised and inappropriately talked about the situation on the ground in their city, they’ve inflamed the public.”

Frey responded that the killing itself, not his language, was the truly inflammatory act, referring to him calling for ICE to “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis” in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

“I’m sorry I offended their delicate ears.

“I dropped an F-bomb, and they killed somebody. I think the ‘killing somebody’ is the inflammatory element here, not the F-bomb.”

Lawsuit

Minnesota, Minneapolis and St Paul filed a suit on Monday seeking to halt what they called an unprecedented federal immigration “invasion”.

The suit argues DHS has violated constitutional protections and accuses the administration of politically targeting a Democratic-led state, adding that thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarised raids even in sensitive public places such as schools and hospitals under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement.

The complaint says, as reported by CNN:

“Minneapolis and Saint Paul are now the latest of the cities widely considered to be Democratic cities with elected leaders who do not politically align with Trump to be flooded with federal agents.

“DHS has made clear that ICE ‘will continue to surge into sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide.’”

Several federal prosecutors have also resigned in protest over the justice department’s decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing.

In a social media post last week cited in Minnesota’s suit, DHS simply wrote:

“We’re not leaving until the problem is solved.”

Top image via Reuters