District Attorney Larry Krasner and a cadre of liberal City Council members on Thursday decried the fatal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting in Minneapolis.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, was killed inside her car during an encounter with an agent Wednesday. President Donald Trump’s administration has deployed more than 2,000 federal officers to the Twin Cities; unlike several other major metropolitan areas, such a large-scale operation has not yet been launched in Philadelphia.
Krasner, a progressive prosecutor who often goes after Trump, characterized Good’s death as “an unlawful killing” and “the criminal homicide of a young woman,” stemming from the White House’s “Nazified approach to mass deportation.”
The DA said the ICE agent violated basic law enforcement protocols by standing in front of a moving vehicle and firing at an unarmed driver.
“If any law enforcement agent, any ICE agent, is going to come to Philly to commit crimes, then you can get the F out of here,” Krasner said at a news conference. “Because if you do that here, I will charge you with those crimes. You will be arrested. You will stand trial. You will be convicted.”
Minnesota-based authorities initially indicated that they would be leading a probe into the shooting alongside the FBI. However, on Thursday, local law enforcement said they have been prevented from participating in the investigation, with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying Thursday that the state lacks jurisdiction, according to national news reports.
Top Trump administration officials have suggested that ICE officers are immune from state-level prosecution.
Krasner, however, told reporters that nothing bars district attorneys from arresting and charging federal agents. The officer’s defense attorney could request the case be moved to federal court, but the DA’s office would continue to handle the prosecution, he said. A president, Krasner repeatedly noted, cannot pardon a state conviction.
“So I know Donald Trump would like us all to be fearful and think that he's got all the power and all the control, and there's no teeth,” he added. “We got teeth, and if we have to use them, we're going to use them.”
The DA encouraged Philadelphians to record ICE agents and other law enforcement to document alleged misconduct. Without the footage in the Minneapolis shooting, the public would be left with a “stack of lies” from the White House, Krasner remarked.
Noem, Trump and Vice President JD Vance have claimed that the agent acted in self defense as Good attacked ICE officers.
Krasner said his office and other criminal justice partners expect to hold another news conference Monday to discuss local ICE issues and policies, including concerns about arrests in and around the criminal courthouse.
Immigration advocates have demanded that Sheriff Rochelle Bilal ban immigration authorities from the Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice and do more to prevent apprehensions.
Bilal, whose office oversees security at city courthouses, has said her officers do not pass intelligence to ICE or participate in immigration enforcement. She came out even stronger against the agency Thursday, referring to ICE operatives as “made-up, fake, wannabe law enforcement."
“If any of them want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide,” Bilal remarked. “Nobody will whisk you off. You don't want this smoke.”
Video clips of her comments garnered significant attention on social media, apparently prompting a deluge of calls and comments to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel felt compelled to respond. In a statement Friday, he noted that the Philadelphia sheriff, unlike in some jurisdictions, has a limited role.
In addition to courthouse security, Bilal's department conducts sheriff's sales, transports jail inmates and serves arrest warrants and legal documents. Nearly all other enforcement falls to the PPD.
"The Philadelphia Police Department will continue to work professionally with all of our law enforcement partners," Bethel said. "But clear lines of authority – and accurate public representation of those roles – are essential to maintaining public trust and effective public safety operations."
Two members of City Council – Kendra Brooks and Rue Landau – said Thursday they are drafting policies to protect immigrants in Philadelphia, promising more details in the coming weeks.
“ICE needs to get out of all cities that they are terrorizing daily, including Philadelphia,” Brooks said. “This is state-sanctioned violence.”
A pair of their colleagues, Jamie Gauthier and Nicolas O’Rourke, also participated in the DA’s press conference about the Minneapolis killing.
“ICE is making our neighborhoods less safe,” O’Rourke stated. “They are kidnapping, and they are, as the video shows, killing our neighbors, including U.S. citizens.”
Thursday’s event preceded a vigil outside City Hall. Demonstrations continued over the weekend, both in Philadelphia and in cities across the country.
Voffee Jabateh, of the African Cultural Alliance of North America Inc., said the United States is different from the country he immigrated to 35 years ago as a refugee from Liberia.
“I was fleeing from civil war in search of safety, and that safety is quickly eroding,” Jabateh added. “What this communicates to the entire world is that America is gradually not a welcoming society anymore.”
