Minneapolis officials moved swiftly Thursday to close all public schools after a confrontation between federal immigration agents, teachers and community members erupted at a city high school — just hours after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother, during an immigration enforcement operation elsewhere in the city.
The clash unfolded Wednesday afternoon at Roosevelt High School, less than three miles from where Good was killed on a snow-covered street. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol agents arrived at the school after a five-mile vehicle chase involving a suspect who allegedly rammed a government vehicle during an enforcement action. The pursuit ended as students were being dismissed, drawing agents onto school grounds at a moment of heightened tension across the city.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene. Armed federal agents poured out of unmarked SUVs near the school entrance as hundreds of students exited the building. Teachers and school staff attempted to block the agents from entering school property, urging them to stay away from students, according to multiple accounts. At least one educator was tackled and briefly detained, witnesses said.
“They came in like this was a military operation,” said Carol, a neighborhood resident who asked that her last name be withheld out of fear of retaliation. She said residents rushed outside blowing whistles and shouting at agents to leave the school. Video she recorded shows demonstrators chanting “Shame!” as officers pushed back the crowd.
The incident drew the attention of Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol commander who has overseen enforcement operations in several major U.S. cities. Witnesses said Bovino stood at a school entrance as an agent appeared to film him, a moment that many residents said deepened their sense that the operation was meant to project force rather than restore order.
DHS, in a statement, said agents were assaulted by an individual who identified himself as a teacher and that members of the crowd threw objects and paint at officers. The agency said agents used “targeted crowd control” but denied deploying tear gas — a claim disputed by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, which said chemical agents were used. The union confirmed that an educator was arrested and later released.
Parents and local officials expressed alarm that federal agents entered a school environment during dismissal. “School property should be off-limits,” said Kate Winkel, a nearby resident who witnessed the confrontation. “Kids need to feel safe at school.”
The episode unfolded against the backdrop of mounting anger over Good’s killing earlier the same day. Her death, captured on video later analyzed by national media, has sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, particularly in neighborhoods with large immigrant and Somali-American populations.
By Thursday evening, Minneapolis Public Schools announced that all classes would be canceled through Friday, citing safety concerns and the need to assess the situation. “This incident involved federal law enforcement agents and is currently under investigation,” the district said, adding that schools would reopen Monday.
For many in Minneapolis, the back-to-back events — a fatal shooting followed by federal agents clashing with teachers at a public high school — have crystallized fears that immigration enforcement has crossed a line, turning neighborhoods and now schools into flashpoints in a rapidly escalating national confrontation.
