The Indian Panorama

Tag: Tim Walz

  • Outrage in NYC after ICE agent in Minneapolis shoots fleeing woman dead

    Outrage in NYC after ICE agent in Minneapolis shoots fleeing woman dead

    NEW YORK (TIP): New York elected officials and immigrant advocate groups are reacting with horror and outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis during an immigration crackdown.

    Video circulating online appears to show a female driver blocking the path of federal agents on the roadway with her SUV. When one agent attempted to open the door of the vehicle, the driver looked to pull away — leading a second agent to draw their gun and fire. The woman was shot three times and died, according to preliminary reports.

    “Oh my God,” a voice could be heard screaming off screen.

    DHS officials allege that the unnamed driver attempted to mow down the federal officer, with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary, calling it “domestic terrorism” — without providing any proof to back up such a claim.

    “An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” a statement by DHS read.

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded on social media by instantly denouncing the official narrative.

    “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice,” Walz wrote.

    Meanwhile, New York elected officials are echoing Walz’s sentiments. U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who has been an outspoken critic of ICE tactics in Manhattan’s immigration courts, also took to social media to express outrage to Miller.

    “We’re done with your gaslighting @stephenm. Even if the officer were run over, it’s not domestic terrorism. But as you can see from the path of the car after she was shot, she was trying to drive away. You are inciting untrained thugs to murder Americans. This is on you,” Goldman wrote.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the shooting during an unrelated press conference late Wednesday afternoon in which he called it horrific.

    “We know that when ICE agents attack immigrants, they attack every single one of us across this country. And this is a city that stands up for immigrants across the five boroughs, and I have made it clear to everyone within my city government, and that extends to NYPD, that we are going to uphold our sanctuary city policies,” Mamdani said. “We are going to adhere to that. That is why one of the 11 executive orders that we signed was to repeal the previous administration’s order to allow for collaboration with ICE on Rikers Island.

    The mayor also pledged not to aid immigration enforcement in any way, including making certain the NYPD does not aid ICE.

    “What we are going to be doing is following the laws that we have set, laws which have kept New Yorkers safe, and we are going to make it clear to each and every person in the city what their rights are. That’s why we took the time to make a Know Your Rights video, because it goes back to the earlier question, if you don’t know of your rights, then how can you be expected to actually use those rights?” Mamdani said. “So, we are going to take every opportunity we have to inform New Yorkers of what they already can do, and also to make it clear to our own city government agencies and departments across the board, including NYPD, that we are not here to assist ICE agents in their work. We are here to follow the laws of New York City.”

    amNewYork also reached out to New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who has also pushed back on ICE operations in the Big Apple.

    “ICE has a total disregard for public safety, and human life. Because of Trump’s reckless, lawless deportation agenda, today a woman was shot to death. And in 2025, 32 human beings died in ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security is making everyone less safe,” Williams said.

    State Senator Jessica Ramos, who serves a massive immigrant population in Jackson Heights, Queens, spoke to amNewYork about the fatal shooting.

    “ICE relies on fear, chaos, and enforcement tactics that treat entire communities as suspects and creates the conditions for tragedy. Now a woman is dead and we all saw it. We need less muscle memory and more rule of law, restraint, and accountability,” Ramos said.

    It wasn’t only New York politicians who fumed over the fatal shooting. Immigration advocates also let loose.

    Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, charged that this is the next step in ICE escalation.

    “Today’s news from Minneapolis is a tragedy and marks a violent escalation in ICE’s tactics and the state’s repression of political dissidents. Let’s be very clear: ICE and the federal agents are the ones sowing chaos and violence in our cities — and are now killing people who oppose their fascist abduction program. “This tragedy did not happen in a vacuum. It is the direct and predictable result of a federal agency that has been allowed to operate with impunity, secrecy, and unchecked force.”
    (Source: amNewYork)

  • Anger, outrage spills onto Minneapolis streets after ICE officer’s fatal shooting of Renee Good

    Anger, outrage spills onto Minneapolis streets after ICE officer’s fatal shooting of Renee Good

    Hundreds of people protesting the shooting of Renee Good march in freezing rain at night down one of Minneapolis’ major thoroughfares

    MINNEAPOLIS (TIP): Hundreds of people protesting the shooting of Renee Good marched in freezing rain at night down one of Minneapolis’ major thoroughfares, chanting “ICE out now” and holding signs saying, “killer ICE off our streets”, reports AP.

    Protesters earlier vented their outrage outside a federal facility that is serving as a hub for the administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major city.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly characterized the Minneapolis shooting as an act of self-defense and cast Good as a villain, suggesting she used her vehicle as a weapon to attack the officer who shot her.

    Vice President JD Vance said the shooting was justified and Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was a “victim of left-wing ideology.”

    “I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it is a tragedy of her own making,” Vance said, noting that the officer who killed her was injured while making an arrest last June.

    But state and local officials and protesters rejected that characterization, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying video recordings show the self-defense argument is “garbage.”

    The shooting happened on the second day of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which Homeland Security said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever.

    More than 2,000 officers are taking part, and Noem said they have made more than 1,500 arrests.

    It provoked an immediate response in the city where police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of people turning up to the scene to vent their outrage at the ICE officers and the school district cancelling classes for the rest of the week as a precaution.

    Good’s death — at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since Trump took office — has resonated far beyond Minneapolis, as protests took place or were expected this week in many large US cities.

    “We should be horrified,” protester Shanta Hejmadi said. “We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens.”

    Protesters blocked the street where Good was shot with makeshift barricades constructed out of garbage cans, Christmas trees and canopies. People gave out coffee and water, while fires burned in metal drums to keep visitors warm.

    Who will investigate?
    The Minnesota agency that investigates officer-involved shootings said Thursday that it was informed that the FBI and US Justice Department would not work with it, effectively ending any role for the state to determine if crimes were committed. Noem said the state had no jurisdiction.

    “Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” said Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

    Gov. Tim Walz demanded that the state be allowed to take part, repeatedly emphasizing that it would be “very difficult for Minnesotans” to accept that an investigation excluding the state could be fair.

    Noem, he said, was “judge, jury and basically executioner” during her public comments.

    Frey, the mayor, told The Associated Press: “We want to make sure that there is a check on this administration to ensure that this investigation is done for justice, not for the sake of a cover-up.”

    Deadly encounter seen from multiple angles
    Several bystanders captured video of Good’s killing, which happened in a neighborhood south of downtown.

    The recordings show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

    The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

    It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.

    Officer identified in records
    The federal agent who fatally shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for almost two decades in the Border Patrol and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

    Noem has not publicly named him, but a Homeland Security spokesperson said her description of his injuries last summer refers to an incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, in which court documents identify him as Jonathan Ross.

    Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle of a driver who was fleeing arrest on an immigration violation. He was dragged roughly 100 yards (90 meters) before he was knocked free, records show.

    He fired his Taser, but the prongs did not incapacitate the driver, according to prosecutors. Ross was transported to a hospital. A jury found the driver guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

    Attempts to reach Ross, 43, at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not successful.

    DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin also did not confirm his identity but said the officer involved in the shooting was selected for ICE’s special response team, which includes a 30-hour tryout and additional training.

  • Vance, Walz clash on 2020 election results, economy, reproductive rights in civil debate

    Vance, Walz clash on 2020 election results, economy, reproductive rights in civil debate

    NEW YORK (TIP): U.S. Vice Presidential Candidates – Minnesota’s Democrat Governor Tim Walz and Republican Senator from Ohio, J.D. Vance – argued over the 2020 election results, foreign policy, the economy, immigration, gun control, abortion rights and the presidential candidates’ records, at their first and only televised debate as the U.S. heads towards a general election on November 5. The 90-minute debate, hosted by CBS News in New York, was markedly civil given the bitterly polarized context and heated presidential debate last month between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

    In the context of Tuesday’s Iranian missile strike on Israel, Mr. Walz emphasized the importance of alliances and the need for “steady“ leadership, which he said Ms. Harris would provide. Mr. Vance spoke of “peace through strength” and no major war breaking during the Trump presidency.

    Mr. Vance, who has been lagging behind his fellow Midwesterner, Mr. Walz, went into damage-control mode on reproductive rights, with the GOP vulnerable to losing the support of women in significant numbers due to its position on reproductive issues and the overturning of Roe v Wade (a legal precedent which, broadly, protected a woman’s right to an abortion) in 2022, by a Supreme Court with three judges appointed by Mr. Trump when he was President.

    “We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue…,” said Mr. Vance, who had earlier expressed support for a “national standard” on abortion. The Yale Law School educated Ohio Senator, whose remarks over the years have included references to the U.S. being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies” sought to rehabilitate and polish his image, measuring his words on Tuesday night. Mr. Walz pushed back against Democrats being defined as “pro-abortion” .

    “We are pro-freedoms for women to make their choices,” he said, emphasizing also that Ms. Harris had planned a $6,000 child tax credit for parents, if elected.

    During the final minutes of the debate, Mr. Vance equivocated and did not agree that Mr. Trump lost the 2020 elections, saying that he believed “we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square” and that he was “focused on the future”. He also said Ms. Harris was engaged in censorship.

    “That is a damning non-answer,” Mr. Walz responded, in perhaps one of the governor’s strongest moments during the debate.

    On the other hand, Mr. Walz floundered when he was asked to clarify his whereabouts during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The governor, who used to organize educational trips to China, deflected the conversation to his gubernatorial record, before calling himself a “knucklehead” and admitting he “misspoke” when he had earlier said he was in Hong Kong in 1989.

    Mr. Vance dismissed economists’ relatively favorable assessment of Ms. Harris’s plan, saying the academics “have PhDs, but they don’t have common sense and they don’t have wisdom”. Throughout the debate, Mr. Vance repeatedly pivoted to illegal migration into the U.S., blaming Ms. Harris, who has been serving as U.S. President Joe Biden’s ‘border czar’, for the record high number of undocumented migrants in the country. Mr. Walz blamed Mr. Trump for derailing a border security Bill in Congress.

    Referring to immigration at one point, Mr Vance told his opponent, “I think that you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.”

  • Indian American executive director of Immigrant Law Center Veena Iyer appointed district judge in Minnesota

    Indian American executive director of Immigrant Law Center Veena Iyer appointed district judge in Minnesota

    MINNESOTA (TIP): Veena Iyer, Indian American executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), has been appointed as a district judge in the second judicial district, covering Ramsey County, in Minnesota by Gov. Tim Walz. Iyer will be replacing JaPaul J. Harris and will be chambered in St. Paul in Ramsey County, according to an announcement from the governor’s office.
    “I am honored to appoint Veena Iyer to the Ramsey County bench,” said Walz. “Her diverse practice background and understanding of the impact that our justice system has on the many communities it serves gives me the confidence that she will be a fair and balanced judge.”
    Iyer described her appointment as “truly bittersweet,” expressing her deep attachment to ILCM and its community spirit. “I will miss ILCM, a community like no other in its tenacity, resilience, creativity, empathy, and compassion. However, I am honored that Governor Walz has entrusted me to serve the residents of Ramsey County and to ensure justice for all.”
    “As the child of immigrants, it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as the executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, and I am proud of all we have done together to support immigrant and refugee families across Minnesota and North Dakota,” she remarked.
    The appointment marks a significant transition for Iyer, who will be departing from her role at ILCM after several weeks to assume her new responsibilities on the bench.
    Iyer was previously a shareholder at Nilan Johnson Lewis and an Equal Justice Works fellow at Legal Aid Chicago. Iyer was also a law clerk for Natalie Hudson on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Susan Burke on the Fourth Judicial District, and Matthew Kennelly on the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
    Her community involvement includes leadership roles with the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Minnesota Women Lawyers.
    Iyer also serves on the Board of Regents of Augsburg University and the Community Advisory Board of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. She received her BA from the University of Chicago and JD from Harvard Law School.