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MINNEAPOLIS – A former Secret Service agent and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent detailed the thought process and decision-making that an immigration officer who shot a woman in Minneapolis would have had to make as the fatal shooting transpired on Wednesday.
Timothy Miller, who is also a former police officer, told Fox News Digital that agents are trained to “respond to a deadly force situation based on the facts” and with “appropriate deadly force.”
“Think about an agent standing literally within a foot of the front bumper of a car, center of the front bumper, and now the car accelerates,” Miller explained. “That vehicle is even more deadly than a gun. You can survive a gunshot. If a car runs over you, it’s not going to go well.”
“Everyone else has months to evaluate what an officer must decide in split seconds,” Miller added.
A former Secret Service and ICE agent explains why the officer had only seconds to act as a vehicle accelerated toward him in Minneapolis. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the woman who was killed, later identified as Renee Nicole Good, as a “domestic terrorist” and alleged that Good “proceeded to weaponize her vehicle” after blocking ICE agents in the road.
A video of the incident shows an agent approaching her car door and ordering her to exit the vehicle. Noem said that Good then attempted to run over an officer before the agent fired multiple shots into the vehicle, ultimately killing the 37-year-old.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis.” (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The video ignited controversy among elected officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis.”
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“We do not want you here,” Frey said at a news conference following the shooting. “Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt, families are being ripped apart.”
Tim Walz was also critical of the situation, posting to X that “I’ve seen the video” and saying “don’t believe this propaganda machine” in reference to a post from DHS describing the situation.
Protesters rally on Portland Street in Minneapolis, Minn., following federal agents fatally shooting a woman on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Miller told Fox News Digital that the “agent had split seconds to decide whether maybe he’s going to live or die, and he reverted to his training and that’s what agents and officers are trained to do with a vehicle that’s driving towards you and potentially a deadly threat.”
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The former Secret Service agent went on to emphasize the precedent set by the Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor, which ties the definition of the use of excessive force by law enforcement to that of the Fourth Amendment and a standard of “objective reasonableness.”
The highest court ruled in the 1989 case that officers should be judged by their decision-making in the brief moments or seconds of an incident, not by how an officer’s reaction may seem in hindsight.
A person is detained as federal agents and police clash with protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
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The fatal shooting of Good has spurred agitators to take to the streets in Minneapolis, as well as other major cities across the country.
“The rhetoric against police officers, it’s not just ICE, it’s all police officers across the country, is escalating, the public’s being told lies, as you saw come out of the press conference, that, oh, I saw the video, there was absolutely no threat,” Miller explained. “That’s insane.”
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston