Lesbian Minn. rep confronts Republican lawmaker over ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good

A tense confrontation between two Minnesota members of Congress erupted on the U.S. House floor this week, captured on video and underscoring the widening partisan divide over a fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting in Minneapolis that has triggered protests, outrage, and renewed calls for federal accountability amid worries of a government cover-up.

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Democratic Rep. Angie Craig confronted Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer during a break in floor proceedings Wednesday evening, challenging his public defense of ICE just hours after federal agents fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, during what the Department of Homeland Security said was an immigration enforcement operation. Good leaves behind a wife and three children. Craig, the first out lesbian elected to Congress from the state, is also married to a woman, and they have children.

Related: Shocking video shows ICE agent fatally shooting woman in south Minneapolis

Related: Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting

Video broadcast by C-SPAN and circulated online shows Craig approaching Emmer, gesturing emphatically and speaking forcefully as other lawmakers gather nearby. The exchange lasts under a minute but quickly escalates, with Emmer appearing to wave Craig away as colleagues move in to separate them.

Craig later told Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO that she approached Emmer because of what she described as his “lack of standing up for Minnesotans” after the shooting. She said Emmer “didn’t let me get three words out before he went from zero to 60,” adding that “if you can’t have a conversation with someone without it escalating in the first three words, then you’re not really ready to have a conversation and you’re not listening.”

Craig said her frustration stems from a belief that “having ICE on the ground in Minnesota is simply not making Minnesota any safer. In fact, it’s having the opposite effect.”

Related: ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has been identified

Related: LGBTQ+ officials denounce ICE killing of Minneapolis woman, demand investigation

The clash followed a Facebook post Emmer published mere hours after the shooting, in which he praised ICE agents for “putting their lives on the line” to protect communities, said “God bless and protect them,” and accused elected officials of “spewing lies and hateful rhetoric.”

Craig said that message, and what she described as Emmer’s unwillingness to acknowledge Good’s death, drove her to confront him directly.

The Advocate has contacted Craig's office for additional comment.

Good was killed earlier this week during a federal operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have claimed the ICE agent involved acted in self-defense, asserting that Good attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon.

Related: Vigil for Renee Nicole Good becomes a call to action against ICE

Related: Who was Renee Nicole Good? Remembering the Minneapolis poet and mother killed by ICE

Some of the Trump administration’s most senior officials have fabricated stories to the public about what happened. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem initially told reporters that ICE agents were trying to push a car out of the snow when a “domestic terrorist” tried to run them over.

That characterization has been questioned by local leaders, activists, and eyewitnesses, and videos from the scene have circulated widely online.

According to the video of the incident, that did not happen. Vice President JD Vance, on Thursday, from the White House briefing room podium, continued to tell falsehoods about the killing, claiming that Good intentionally drove at federal agents to run them over. Video analysis shows that Good had turned the wheel of the car away from the agents as she tried to flee from masked men who were grabbing at her door.

Related: Feds freeze Minnesota officials out of probe around killing of Renee Nicole Good

Related: Federal immigration agents shoot two more people, this time in Oregon

President Donald Trump also lied about what happened, saying on Wednesday that the agent had been taken to the hospital and was lucky to be alive. The ICE agent was seen on video walking around and uninjured after the shooting.

Emmer’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the floor exchange.