Walz on ICE shooting investigation: “Minnesota must be part of this investigation”

Following the Wed, Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced on Jan. 8 that the organization had withdrawn from the investigation into the event.

A federal deployment of ICE officers, Operation Metro Surge, has brought roughly 2,000 federal agents to Minnesota, concentrated largely in the Twin Cities. Good was shot in her car by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis.

Immediately after the shooting, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem alleged that Good had weaponized her car and was attempting to run down ICE officers. She said the ICE officer who killed Good was acting in self defense.

The shooting was recorded on video by numerous witnesses, and shows several ICE officers approaching Good’s car, then firing as the vehicle began to move.

Some state and local leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz, have been critical of federal agents’ and officials’ responses to the killing. In his statements on Jan. 7 he joined Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in expressing his disbelief in the assertion that the ICE agent who killed Good was acting in self defense.

According to a Jan. 8 statement, following the shooting that killed Good, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, decided that the BCA Force Investigations Unit and FBI would conduct a joint investigation. However, later that day the U.S. Attorney’s Office withdrew access to case materials and evidence from the BCA.

As a result, the BCA is not participating in the investigation. The statement from the BCA read, “Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation.”

In response to the announcement, Walz held a press conference on Jan. 8, in addition to signing a series of executive orders all related to preparing the Minnesota National Guard for potential mobilization.

Walz offered more comments during the press conference. He touted the non-partisan nature of the BCA team and the public’s trust in the organization as reasons that they should not be excluded from the investigation. “Minnesota must be part of this investigation,” he said. “I think it’s clear to everyone as they saw this, that it feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation, it feels very very difficult that we will get a fair outcome. And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment, from the President to the Vice President, to Kristi Noem, have stood and told you things that are verifiably false.”

Walz added, “The only way we find the answers is a thorough investigation by non-partisan individuals.”

Later during the press conference, Walz urged Minnesotans to remain peaceful during protests. He also called on ICE to leave the state and to stay out of schools. After Wednesday’s shooting, ICE agents entered the grounds of a Minneapolis school, detaining two members of staff.

Walz repeatedly made the request that the state be allowed to handle the investigation, saying, “We believe in states’ rights. We believe the federal government needs to stay out of it. We believe that the situation has gotten worse and less safe because of their presence.”

In a statement from the governor’s office regarding the executive orders he signed, Walz was quoted praising the peaceful response from protesters following the shooting, and committing the National Guard to the cause of maintaining peace in the state and supporting local law enforcement.

The statement explained Walz’s decision to prepare the National Guard for possible mobilization. It read, “Governor Tim Walz has authorized the Minnesota National Guard to be staged and ready to support local and state law enforcement in protecting critical infrastructure and maintaining public safety following a shooting involving federal immigration enforcement agents in south Minneapolis.”

Kirsten Wisniewski January 8, 2026