About 50 people gathered outside Fayetteville City Hall on Thursday night to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.
The peaceful demonstration, organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, came two days after a federal agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on a residential street. Speakers at the Fayetteville protest pushed back on the White House’s account of the shooting.
President Donald Trump and other federal officials have asserted that the ICE agent acted in self-defense. However, video footage, statements from Minneapolis officials, and witness accounts have contradicted that version of events, prompting national outrage and a wave of local demonstrations.
Newly elected Fayetteville Council member Shaun McMillan, the only council member at the protest, said he attended because “Renee Nicole Goode should be alive today.” He called her death evidence of “a systemic problem with how ICE operates” and “the dangerous expansion of militarized immigration enforcement.”
McMillan said Fayetteville needs to coordinate a local response plan for potential ICE actions.
Two Fayetteville police officers stood several blocks away for the duration of the demonstration. They did not interact with protesters, and no counter‑protesters appeared.
Organizers Condemn ICE, Call for National Action
In a statement, organizers of the event demanded justice for Good.
“We demand justice for Renee Nicole Good and an end to ICE’s reign of terror across the country. The video evidence confirms this was a cold-blooded murder,” the groups stated.
“The ICE agent who shot her and any of their accomplices must be prosecuted immediately for murder,” organizers added.
The statement also accused the Trump administration of directing a “racist campaign” targeting Somali immigrants, who have been the target of ICE enforcement actions in Minneapolis. Organizers tied that allegation to a broader pattern of enforcement actions, noting that the demonstration unfolded against the backdrop of ICE raids in Charlotte, the Triangle, and other major U.S. cities during the Trump administration.
Angela Freckleton, a Fayetteville resident and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, grew emotional as she addressed the crowd.
“Despite the lies the right‑wing media tells us, it was not self-defense,” she said, later adding, “ICE are terrorists.”
Issac Lacap, also a Fayetteville resident and member of the group, told attendees that organizers are planning a nationwide protest on January 20, which is the one‑year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration. “This does not end tonight,” he said.
Kristen Starks, a resident and member, urged supporters to participate in what she called a “collective nationwide shutdown” or walkout on the same date. “It has the potential to be massive,” she said.
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com or 910-988-8045.
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