Minneapolis shooting: Vance defends ICE agent, says had been dragged by car six months ago

The federal immigration officer who fatally shot ‍a 37-year-old woman in ​Minneapolis had previously been dragged ‌by a vehicle ​and injured, U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Thursday (January 8, 2026). He blamed the fatal shooting on “a left-wing network,” Democrats, the news media and the woman who was killed as protests related to her death expanded to cities across the country.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr. Vance said the officer “nearly had ​his life ended” after ⁠being dragged by a car six months ago, causing an ​injury requiring ⁠more than 30 stitches in his leg.

“So you think maybe he’s a little ‌bit sensitive about somebody ‌ramming him with an automobile,” Mr. Vance said. State ‍and federal officials have offered starkly different accounts of ‍the shooting, which took place during President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

On the death of 37-year-old Renee Good, Mr. Vance said at the White House that he wasn’t worried about prejudging the investigation, saying of the videos he’d seen of the Wednesday (January 7) incident, “What you see is what you get in this case.”

He said he was certain that Good accelerated her car into the officer and hit him. It isn’t clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer. The V-P also said part of him felt “very, very sad” for Good. He called her “brainwashed” and “a victim of left-wing ideology.”

“I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognising that it’s a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement — a lunatic fringe — against our law enforcement officers,” Mr. Vance said.

His defence of the officer, at times fiery, came as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Donald Trump likewise said the officer’s actions were a justified act of self-defense. Trump said Good “viciously ran over” the ICE officer, though video footage of the event contradicts that claim.

Mr. Trump and his allies have defended the shooting as an act of ⁠self-defence, while Minnesota officials have denounced it as ​an act of unrestrained violence.

Department ⁠of Homeland Security officials have not responded to questions about the officer’s identity. 

FBI, DOJ exit cooperation on probe of ICE agent

The Minnesota ‍Bureau of Criminal Apprehension ​said on Thursday ‌(January 8) that ​the FBI and the Justice Department have withdrawn cooperation in the investigation ​of the immigration ⁠agent.

“Without ⁠complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information ‌collected, we ‌cannot meet the investigative standards ‍that Minnesota law and ‍the public demands,” the BCA said in a statement.

“As a result, the BCA ⁠has reluctantly withdrawn from ​the investigation.”