Renee Nicole Good Was a Domestic Terrorist

In a press conference shortly after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, Kristi Noem delivered a definitive defence of the ICE agents involved. Her statement sought to reframe a controversial use-of-force incident as a heroic defence against a "domestic terrorist attack."

Claims

It was an act of domestic terrorism

Noem opens and closes her statement by labeling the incident "domestic terrorism," invoking the highest possible threat level to justify the lethal response.

• By federal definition (18 U.S. Code § 2331), "domestic terrorism" requires acts dangerous to human life that appear intended to intimidate a civilian population or influence government policy by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.

• Renee Nicole Good was a civilian involved in a traffic dispute/flight scenario. There is zero evidence of political, ideological, or religious motivation behind her actions. Labeling a panicked driver or a non-compliant motorist a "terrorist" is a deliberate rhetorical strategy to strip the victim of public sympathy and shield the shooter from standard legal scrutiny.

A woman attacked them... attempted to run them over and ram them.

Noem describes an active, targeted assault ("attacked," "ram," "run them over"). Video footage shows Good’s vehicle steering away from the agents in an attempt to flee. "Ramming" implies using the car as a battering ram to strike the officers. Fleeing involves maneuvering around obstacles (including officers) to escape.

The distinction is critical: Fleeing is a crime, but it does not automatically justify lethal force. The "attack" narrative relies on the officer placing himself in the vehicle's path a tactic known as "officer-created jeopardy" which is widely banned in modern policing because it manufactures a justification for shooting. The DHS themselves sought to update their guidelines because even before Trump was running for office, this was such a problem.

Officer... acted quickly and defensively... to protect himself.

This framing portrays the officer as a passive victim reacting to an unavoidable threat.

• "Defensive" action implies the officer had no other choice. However, scene analysis confirms the officers were blocking the path of a vehicle trying to disengage.

• Courts have repeatedly ruled that officers cannot intentionally step in front of a moving vehicle to justify shooting the driver (see Stamps v. Town of Framingham). If the officer had time to "act quickly" to shoot, they typically had time to step sideways especially given the vehicle's slow speed in the snow.

Working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such [as terrorists]

Noem promises to use the full weight of the federal government to classify vehicle non-compliance as terrorism.

This suggests a policy shift where resisting arrest in a vehicle is legally equated with a bomb plot or mass shooting. This categorization would strip defendants of standard due process rights and allow for harsher sentencing guidelines intended for national security threats, effectively militarizing routine traffic stops.

Kristi Noem’s statement acts as a pre-emptive exoneration. By anchoring the narrative in "terrorism" before an investigation is complete, she attempts to make questioning the shooting equivalent to siding with terrorists.

Video Clip:

Transcript:

00:00 - 00:05 Kristi Noem: It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened was our ICE officers were out on an enforcement action.

00:05 - 00:11 Kristi Noem: They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle...

00:11 - 00:18 Kristi Noem: ...and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.

00:18 - 00:25 Kristi Noem: An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him...

00:25 - 00:29 Kristi Noem: ...and my understanding is is that she was hit and is deceased.

00:29 - 00:34 Kristi Noem: We're continuing to gather more information, but this goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers...

00:34 - 00:37 Kristi Noem: ...and our law enforcement are under every single day.

00:37 - 00:44 Kristi Noem: These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We're working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such.

00:44 - 00:52 Kristi Noem: We will continue to protect our ICE officers and in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies as well.