King, Harris United in Condemning ICE Presence and Trump’s ‘Gaslighting’ After Minneapolis Shooting
Civil rights leader Bernice A. King and former Vice President Kamala Harris are publicly condemning Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent, calling the administration’s response misleading and dangerous.
The shooting occurred when an ICE officer fired into a vehicle driven by 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good during a confrontation in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed the agent acted in self-defense. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz quickly rejected that account, with Frey calling the explanation “bulls—” during a press conference.
Video footage of the incident shows officers ordering someone out of a Honda Pilot and attempting to open the driver’s door. As the vehicle moves backward and then forward, an agent begins firing into the car. Good later died from her injuries.
Good is at least the fifth person killed by immigration authorities since Trump launched a nationwide immigration crackdown last year. Just days earlier, an off-duty ICE agent fatally shot 43-year-old Keith Porter in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve.
Bernice King: ‘These Evils Are Interconnected’
In a series of social media posts, King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, denounced the killing and the expanded presence of ICE in U.S. cities.
“Kingian Nonviolence teaches us that every life has dignity and that justice is love correcting everything that stands against love,” King wrote. “This callous taking of a life under the banner of ‘law and order’ stands against love.”
She went further, connecting the incident to broader systems of violence. Referencing her father’s teachings, King warned that what he described as the “Triple Evils” remain deeply embedded in American policy.
“What Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the Triple Evils of Racism, Militarism and Poverty persist,” she wrote. “These evils are interconnected. Militarism is often used to enforce bigotry, racism, and other systemic violence.”
Harris Accuses Trump of ‘Gaslighting’
Harris echoed those concerns, directly criticizing Trump’s characterization of the shooting. In a public statement, she accused the administration of distorting the facts despite video evidence.
“Many of us have seen the horrifying and painful video, which makes it clear that the Trump administration’s explanation of this shooting is pure gaslighting,” Harris said.
Trump had falsely claimed that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over” the ICE officer who shot her—an assertion contradicted by video footage and local officials.
Harris praised Gov. Walz for ordering a state-level investigation and emphasized the need for independence and accountability. “A full and fair investigation at the state level is absolutely necessary,” she said.
State Officials Push Back
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the use of force raised “serious questions” and called for an intense, independent investigation. Ellison noted that unlike DHS, which quickly labeled Good’s actions as “domestic terrorism,” state prosecutors should not rush to conclusions.
“No prosecutors ever should know this early,” Ellison said, adding that the state is working alongside the FBI to determine whether charges may be filed against the unidentified ICE agent.
As protests continue in Minneapolis and beyond, the statements from King and Harris underscore a growing national reckoning over immigration enforcement, militarized policing, and the Trump administration’s use of force under the banner of law and order.
