When lifelong Minnesota resident Betsy went outside for a walk on Wednesday morning, she said she never expected to witness a federal agent shooting a woman in her own neighborhood.
"I could tell that my body was in a state of shock," Betsy, who asked not to have her last name published, told ABC News. "I felt really scared by what was happening and was in a kind of a state of terror and fear."
A woman who was later identified as Minneapolis resident 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during an operation in the city.
According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Good was allegedly "attempting to run over our law enforcement officers" with her car when an ICE officer fatally shot her.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have disputed the federal government's claims surrounding what led up to the shooting, claiming video of the incident shows the agent's actions were not self-defense.
Betsy said that before the incident, she heard whistles and horns in her Minneapolis neighborhood of Powderhorn and followed the sounds to see what was going on.
After heading west on East 34th Street and making a right on Portland Avenue, she said she saw "a cluster of vehicles in the middle of the street, including a maroon SUV."
A number of neighbors whistled in protest at a group of federal agents on the street, she explained, adding that one agent yelled at the female driver in the SUV through the window of her car.
"It appeared to me that she was endeavoring to kind of adjust her car so that it was facing more south," Betsy said. "And then it was clear at one point that she started to accelerate, trying to move her vehicle out of the cluster of cars south on Portland Avenue."
"At the time that she just started to accelerate, one of the agents was yelling through her car window," she continued, saying she saw the agent fire multiple shots.
Immediately following the shooting, the SUV shifted forward roughly 10 feet, according to Betsy, at which point it became clear that the driver "lost control of the car."
"I could see that her head was lulled back on the driver's side headrest, and that there was a lot of blood," Betsy said. "Her car kind of slowly collided with a parked car on the east side of Portland Avenue, just a few feet in front of me."
Minneapolis police said preliminary information indicates that Good was in her car and blocking the road before the shooting.
"At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off," police said. "At least two shots were fired … the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway."
"There is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity," police added.
Betsy claimed that the agents were standing next to and behind the SUV near the driver's side window before and at the moment shots were fired, but no agents were in front of the vehicle at the time.
The Department of Homeland Security has said there was an agent in front of the vehicle.
Besty said that in the moments that followed the shooting, a neighbor ran across the street to the driver's side of the SUV and opened the door to check on the driver's condition.
After the neighbor told bystanders to call 911, Betsy said she tried doing so but couldn't get through.
At one point, another neighbor approached the SUV and identified himself as a physician, Betsy said, noting that the man urged federal agents to help stop the bleeding.
Witnessing the shooting firsthand had an acute effect on Betsy, she said, who described how her diverse community had been on edge recently following a reported increase in immigration enforcement activity in Minneapolis.
"I can tell my nervous system is still in a bit of shock," she said. "I feel a lot of grief, and I feel a lot of anger and I feel fiercely proud of where I'm from and the community that I'm a part of, and I want to do anything I can to support it being healthy and safe."
Following the shooting, a large crowd gathered in the area, which is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.
Gov. Walz said he has issued a "warning order" to prepare the Minnesota National Guard, saying there are soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed "if necessary," while urging "peaceful resistance."
No comments:
Post a Comment