Dallas Protesters Gather Downtown After Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis

Hundreds of North Texans gathered at City Hall Plaza Thursday evening to express anger and mourning over this week’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

The rally was peaceful, but filled with calls for ICE to leave Dallas and for President Donald Trump to end his immigration crackdown before another tragedy happens. As the protest was starting, news began to emerge that a man and woman in Portland, Oregon, had been shot by Customs and Border Patrol agents, adding fuel to the Dallas crowd’s fire. Few details are known about the Oregon incident or the couple, but local authorities have said the individuals were hospitalized.

Good’s death has spurred a new wave of anger towards immigration enforcement. She was a mother and a U.S. citizen, and does not appear to have been involved in an ICE investigation. Some first-time protesters on Thursday described her killing as a wake-up call.

“The reason that I came is because the people who are supposed to protect us have failed. If things continue like this, [ICE and the Trump Administration] doesn’t need a reason to do things like this again,” said Kristin L., from Dallas.

Kristin, like many protesters the Observer has spoken with in the last year, declined to share her last name, citing fears of political violence and surveillance. Despite Thursday night being her first experience protesting, Kristin moved through the crowd, distributing boxes of white roses for a vigil in support of Good. She said she was inspired by images of the vigil formed in Minneapolis, flowers resting in the snow at the place where Good was killed, and she hoped the small display would stand as a symbol of “unity” and “joint grief.”

During the protest, volunteers distributed whistles and urged the crowd to use them to warn community members when ICE agents are nearby. Shrilling whistles can be heard in the background of videos taken at the time of Good’s death. The crowd also reacted passionately, with jeers and yelling, as a speaker referenced comments made by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who shortly after the shooting referred to Good as a “domestic terrorist.” Officials outside of the Trump Administration have argued against that characterization, questioning the gaps between Noem’s narrative that Good was attempting to use her car as a weapon at the time of the shooting and the video evidence from the scene.

While Dallas officials have not been outspoken about the Minneapolis shooting, Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua said in a statement Thursday that he believes Good’s killing was a “cold-blooded murder.”

“This type of lawlessness is exactly why we, as a City Council, stood firm with our DPD Chief and told ICE that they are not welcome in our city,” Bazaldua said. “Congress must take appropriate action, eliminating immunity for the lawless Gestapo-type agency that serves as a personal military to the convicted felon who occupies the White House.”

There was virtually no visible Dallas Police presence at City Hall Plaza during the rally, although officers did arrive to help with traffic control as the crowd marched through downtown Dallas around 8:15 p.m. That stands in stark contrast to the anti-ICE protest in June, where hundreds of protesters marched towards the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in West Dallas and dozens of police officers responded to the increasingly tense gathering. At the time, we noted that it appeared to be the most tense standoff between protesters and police since the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd.

The mood of the march remained enthusiastic and passionate, souring only temporarily when the crowd moved past the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, where Dallas’ federal immigration court is located. Dallasite Shaun Lowray moved through the large crowd during the march and handed out dozens of voter registration cards. An occasional protester, he said he wasn’t surprised to see such a large turnout at the event, although he hadn’t known what the expect by such a “spur of the moment” call to action.

“We just have to change things,” Lowray said. “We can come to all these things we want, but this could be all for not if people don’t vote.”