Demonstrators took to the streets of downtown Chico to protest the killing Wednesday of a woman by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.
The woman, identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by the Minneapolis City Council, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, NPR reported.
ICE was conducting a targeted immigration enforcement operation at the time, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
Videos of the shooting have circulated on social media and have sparked widespread outrage from critics of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.
Renee Good vigil in Chico
About 50 protesters gathered for a vigil for Good at Chico City Plaza. Some signs read, “ICE is cruel & inhumane,” “ICE = murdering thugs” and “ICE Gestapo.”
Bill Bynum, a member of the Veteran Action Group and Oroville Area Resistance, said he was “outraged” at the videos of the shooting coming out of Minneapolis and felt compelled to join the demonstration.
“It reminded me of the Kent State massacre back when I was a young man,” Bynum said. “To me, it has similar echoes of that. You have untrained people with loaded weapons who are asserting authority they shouldn’t have and then are trigger happy and killing American civilians.”
Good was a U.S. citizen and lived with her partner and 6-year-old child in Minneapolis, the New York Times reported.
In a statement, the Homeland Security Department accused Good of being a “violent rioter” who “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to strike federal agents. An ICE officer fired “defensive” shots at the car in fear for his life, the statement reads.
Another protester at the Chico vigil, Jonathan Miles, also a member of the Veteran Action Group, said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he watched footage of the shooting.
“I’m already aware that this adminis
tration is fascist thugs, and the more they do the more it becomes convincing to me that we’re in an administration and a time in this country that democracy is totally under threat,” Miles said.
Some cars passing by the vigil honked in support. A voice from one car yelled at the demonstrators, expressing their displeasure for the gathering. At several points, protesters broke into song.
Reactions in race for Congress
The shooting also sparked reactions in the race for California’s redrawn 1st Congressional District.
Democratic candidate Audrey Denney of Chico called the shooting “horrific and unconscionable.”
The tragic shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent today is horrific & unconscionable. Families across this country are being terrorized by a militarized agency acting with impunity. This is what happens when chaos is normalized & accountability is abandoned. Enough…
— Audrey Denney (@audreydenney) January 8, 2026
“Families across this country are being terrorized by a militarized agency acting with impunity,” Denney said in a statement. “This is what happens when chaos is normalized and accountability is abandoned. Enough is enough.”
Mike McGuire, a Democratic candidate from Sonoma County, said in a statement that Trump’s “militarized immigration enforcement agency is absolutely out of control.”
McGuire called on Congress to investigate and “rein in” ICE.
Back at the vigil, Chico resident Diane Suzuki said it's important for residents to come together and make their voices heard.
“This is our First Amendment right, right?” Suzuki said. “We need to exercise it. And I say it’s like a muscle – better exercise it.”
NSPR reporter Claudia Brancart contributed reporting.
