No Turning Back – Thousands Protest ICE Violence and Trump’s Domestic Offensive

The anger can no longer be ignored. In more than 1,000 cities and towns, people are gathering this weekend in squares, on streets, in front of ICE buildings, city halls, shopping centers, bridges, schools. The trigger: three shots, one dead person, filmed from the perspective of the shooter. The woman’s name: Renée Nicole Good. The circumstances: known. The images: everywhere. The response: loud.

Minneapolis was the center of nationwide protests on Saturday. Thousands marched through the city where ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed an unarmed woman in her car, in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The outrage over this incident has merged with other experiences: the shooting of two people in Portland by US border agents just one day later, reports of arbitrary arrests, video footage of armed agents threatening civilians. This is no longer an isolated case but a pattern. The protests are organized, decentralized, broadly supported. Groups such as Indivisible, Voto Latino, United We Dream, MoveOn, and the ACLU are part of a coalition calling itself “ICE Out For Good.” Even in conservative strongholds like Lubbock, Texas, or Danville, Kentucky, people are taking to the streets. In Coral Springs, Florida, demonstrators carry signs reading “Stop ICE” and “Never Again Is Now.” In Concord, Massachusetts, they stand in front of a church. In Washington, they march toward the White House.

The demands are clear: accountability for the killing of Renée Nicole Good. Withdrawal of ICE units from residential neighborhoods. No more armed operations in schools, churches, libraries. And an end to the growing violence against people who oppose the government’s deportation policies. Because this violence is real. In 2025, more than 30 people died in ICE custody, more than in any other year of the past two decades. Investigations have documented at least 16 firearm incidents involving ICE agents since June 2025, along with 15 additional cases in which people were threatened at gunpoint. The true number is likely higher, as many incidents are not made public.

The reactions to the killing of Renée Good could hardly be more opposed. While President Trump speaks of self defense and his Department of Homeland Security circulates the clip of the operation on social media, local officials call the official narratives “propaganda.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said, “Trump sent thousands of armed federal agents into our state and it took exactly one day for someone to end up dead.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for nonviolence but described the escalation Friday night outside a hotel with around 1,000 protesters as a targeted attempt by provocateurs to stir unrest. Police reported one lightly injured officer, 29 arrests, and no major property damage. In Richfield, a Minneapolis suburb, ICE agents with covered faces pointed their weapons at journalists. In the south of the city, officers threatened a driver with force and ordered him not to continue following them. The person had been filming.

This is how you work as a journalist in America – relaxed, right?

Meanwhile, the large scale ICE operation continued. Fourteen new case files were added today alone, bringing the total to more than 1,000 files on our desks. People reported cars left behind after drivers were arrested. In one case, a dog was left alone inside a vehicle. Minneapolis Police Chief O’Hara said, “The operations are happening all over the city.” The emergency call center received dozens of reports of arrests, sightings of heavily armed groups, abandoned vehicles. The government is sticking to its narrative: in both cases, Minneapolis and Portland, the drivers allegedly used their vehicles as weapons. In the videos, Renée Good can be seen moving slightly forward, but clearly turning the steering wheel away from the agent. Her car was riddled with bullets.

Every night, protesters gather outside the Canopy Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis, where ICE agents are being housed. They bang pots, drums, and metal objects to keep the agents awake. A sign in front of the entrance bears a clear message: “We’ve done it before – and we will do it again.” Since the deadly ICE operation in the city, the protest has grown daily. Some demonstrators have been arrested, others openly speak of escalation if ICE does not withdraw. Pressure on the hotel is mounting. Management remains silent.

The government remains silent about the escalation. Instead, new units are being deployed to Minnesota. According to the Department of Homeland Security, it is the largest ICE operation in the history of the Twin Cities. More than 2,000 federal agents are involved. Officially, the focus is on investigations into alleged welfare fraud linked to Somali communities. But the connection to the killing of Renée Good is obvious. In front of the Whipple Building, an ICE facility in Minneapolis, demonstrators stand in freezing temperatures. Aztec dancers perform ritual movements, children hold signs. Others sing. Some have tears in their eyes. In one scene, an agent tells women in cars, “Don’t make a bad decision today.” The women block the street.

There is grief in these protests. But there is also a palpable determination. This is no longer about a single incident. It is about what kind of society this wants to be. And what it is willing to accept.

One day after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, a new directive was signed at the Department of Homeland Security, without public announcement, without debate, and without any apparent justification. The order prohibits members of Congress from having free access to ICE facilities in the future and transfers the decision over visits entirely to the agency itself. Until then, the right to unannounced inspections had been regarded as a fixed component of parliamentary oversight. The timing is striking because it follows directly after a deadly deployment by an ICE agent that has triggered nationwide protests. While questions about the course of the operation, the use of weapons, and responsibility remain open, external oversight is being restricted. Several members of Congress are already reporting denied access or short-notice cancellations of previously granted approvals. Affected are detention centers as well as deportation and operational sites. Officially, reference is made to security and operational procedures, but concrete reasons are not given. Legal experts point out that the right of visitation is anchored in law. The directive thus shifts the balance of power between the executive branch and parliament. Precisely at a moment when clarification would be necessary, it is being made more difficult.