Can We Talk About What the Video Actually Shows?

Can We Talk About What the Video Actually Shows?

Yesterday, January 7, 2026, a woman was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.  Her name is Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother.  This was Donald Trump’s response.

                  “I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense. Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but he is now recovering in the hospital. The situation is being studied in its entirety… The reason these incidents are happening is because the radical left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our law enforcement officers and ICE agents on a daily basis.”(The Fulcrum)

This is Kristi Noems’ response,

                  “ICE agents were conducting an enforcement action in Minneapolis when their vehicle became stuck in the snow. As they were attempting to push their vehicle out of the snow, a woman attacked them and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. It was an act of domestic terrorism. An officer of ours acted quickly, and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him…” (FOX News)

I want to be careful here, because it’s important to be accurate.  It’s important because a life has been lost and we are being asked to accept a very specific story.  I suppose by now, many of us have had access to several videos recorded by bystanders. 

As a society, as a group of rational adults, let’s refuse to assume motives or assign labels. Let’s do something a little harder:  Let’s look at what the video can confirm and what it cannot.  https://www.google.com/search?q=You+Tube+Video+of+Minneapolis+shooting&oq=You+Tube+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBggAEEUYOzIGCAAQRRg7MgYIARBFGDkyDAgCEAAYChixAxiABDIJCAMQABgKGIAEMgkIBBAAGAoYgAQyBggFEEUYPDIGCAYQRRg8MgYIBxBFGDzSAQg0MDkzajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8c4b4459,vid:Z1rlh51RqBQ,st:0

First, let’s look at the key claims in Trump’s Truth Social post and how they contrast with what can be verified:

“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator”.  There is no audible screaming by the woman in the publicly shared video footage, nor any proof she was a professional agitator.

“… who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer”.   Multiple independent reviews of the video show no clear contact between the officer and the vehicle.  In the footage no officer was run over or knocked down.

“.. it is hard to believe he is alive,”    In the publicly available footage, the officer is seen walking and moving around after the shooting with no visible signs of injury.

“…because the radical left is threatening and attacking law enforcement…”    This is a broad political statement, not really a factual description directly supported by what the video shows.

Some other points to consider and look at closely.  The victim appears to be waving the first car through.  The next car with the shooter appears NOT to go through (there is room), and stops his vehicle, gets out and angrily approaches the victim making demands that most law enforcement is trained not to do.  There is also no proof that anyone was knocked to the ground in the video.

Let’s look at Noem’s clip. Her framing is even stronger and more accusatory than Trump’s.   

“ICE agents were conducting an enforcement action in Minneapolis when their vehicle became stuck in the snow. As they were attempting to push their vehicle out of the snow, a woman attacked them and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. It was an act of domestic terrorism. An officer of ours acted quickly, and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him…” (FOX 9)

Secretary Kristi Noem said officers were stranded in the snow, attacked, nearly run over, and victims of an act of domestic terrorism. However, the publicly available video does not show ICE vehicles stuck or being pushed in snow, does not clearly show an intentional ramming, and does not establish the elements required to label the incident terrorism. The officer appears to step aside before firing, and remains mobile afterward. These things matter, because words like “attack” and “terrorism” carry legal and moral weight that must be supported by evidence — not assumed.

There are other issues to discuss such as the doctor being denied access to the victim to check for a pulse, and for the ambulance not being able to get close enough with their vehicle.  We need to have a better understanding of the legal process in this situation.  No detailed public explanation has been given at this point.

Truth does not need to be exaggerated to be compelling. When it is, we should stop and ask why.  Whether or not the president did this intentionally, it creates a version that does not align with the available evidence.  Every time he does this,  the end result is confusion, division, and a loss of trust – and we the United States of America cannot afford this.