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source_url: https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/minneapolis-vigil-draws-thousands-as-city-reels-following-ice-shooting/
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Thousands of protesters turned out Wednesday evening near Portland Ave. S. and E. 34th St. in Minneapolis, where earlier in the day 37-year-old mother and neighbor Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent.
Many nearest the heart of the vigil waved signs reading “REMEMBER” and repeated chants against ICE and the Trump administration. Along the edges of the crowd, which stretched several blocks down Portland Ave., friends were locked in smaller discussions and neighbors handed out free coffee. Several street medics carrying packs with masks, bandages and other gear patrolled without incident.
Related: [Vigils spring up in Greater Minnesota after ICE shooting rocks state](https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2026/01/vigils-spring-up-in-greater-minnesota-after-ice-shooting-rocks-state/)
Amid a day of wildly divergent characterizations of the event in the media – from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defending ICE’s actions to Minnesota leaders demanding ICE leave the city – the vigil capped a day marked mostly by a notable show of unity at the local level.
Council members attend Minneapolis vigil
Multiple Minneapolis City Council members attended the vigil. While the day prior they had been locked in an acrimonious first meeting of the year, on Wednesday 11 of 13 members quickly [issued a joint statement](https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/elliottpayne.org/post/3mbujcubc3c2r) calling for an investigation into the shooting led by local authorities.
“Anyone who kills someone in our city deserves to be arrested, investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” it read. It was not signed by Council members [Michael Rainville](https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/MPLS-40340a3?wgt_ref=MPLS_WIDGET_71) (Ward 3) or [LaTrisha Vetaw](https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/MPLS-4034bf3?wgt_ref=MPLS_WIDGET_124) (Ward 4), who posted messages on their ward websites echoing statements by Mayor Jacob Frey.
And Frey, who is sometimes at odds with the city’s more progressive residents, drew praise from some of them for his blunt statements on the shooting.
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”
In interviews Wednesday with MinnPost, council members described learning about the shooting in the morning from community members as they sat in a strategic planning session with Frey, just days after he and council members were sworn into office.
Related: [With Minneapolis on edge, politicians and some advocates call for peaceful protest](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/with-minneapolis-on-edge-politicians-and-some-advocates-call-for-peaceful-protest-in-aftermath-of-ice-shooting-of-renee-good/)
Council Vice President Jamal Osman (Ward 6) praised the communication from Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O’Hara, who he said was trying to de-escalate the situation by getting ICE agents off the streets at the scene.
Osman also asked protesters to be peaceful, saying that “ICE agents or the federal government are looking for an excuse to send military to our city.”
Council member Jason Chavez, whose Ward 9 is bordered by the street where Good was killed, said the agent who shot Good was “guilty of murder.”
“It seems like ICE and federal immigration officials do not know how to deescalate situations,” Chavez said.
Newly installed Council member Soren Stevenson (Ward 8), [who was severely injured by police](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2023/09/soren-stevenson-lost-an-eye-protesting-minneapolis-police-now-hes-running-for-city-council/) during the protests following the murder of George Floyd, repeated a common refrain, saying ICE is “causing violence and chaos.”
Related: [Yes, state and local prosecutors can charge federal law enforcement agents with crimes. But it isn’t easy](https://www.minnpost.com/public-safety/2026/01/minnesota-ice-shooting-yes-state-and-local-prosecutors-can-charge-federal-agents-law-enforcement-with-crimes-but-it-isnt-easy/)
At the vigil, Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota, elicited raucous cheers when he praised bystanders who watched or filmed ICE actions, including the shooting. Their actions, he said, have been critical to the public’s understanding of the day’s events.
“What are we going to do?” Hussein asked the crowd. “That is the question [Good] left for us.”
Later, he called on faith, saying “God has chosen us to carry the burden of standing up to this administration.”
A mention from a later speaker about [Governor Tim Walz’s recent order to the Minnesota National Guard](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/with-minneapolis-on-edge-politicians-and-some-advocates-call-for-peaceful-protest-in-aftermath-of-ice-shooting-of-renee-good/) to prepare for possible deployment elicited boos from the crowd. But more notable were the leaders who found themselves in agreement.
State Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis, closed her comments at the vigil “by doing something I’ve never done before: Quote Jacob Frey. ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”