BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Around 100 Buffalo residents gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Delaware Avenue Thursday, to protest the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent and demand the removal of the local ICE office.
The demonstration was sparked by Wednesday's killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Good was behind the wheel of a Honda SUV, appearing to block the road, when an ICE agent grabbed the door. Good backed up, then drove forward before the agent fired multiple rounds at the vehicle, killing her.
WATCH: Buffalo residents protest ICE after Minneapolis woman was killed by agent
Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced Thursday it would not be involved in the investigation, which will be led solely by the FBI.
"We have to abolish ICE...It's a reckless institution and they have no business in Buffalo," said Rev. Bethany Russell-Lowe, a Buffalo resident.
The protest took place at one of Downtown Buffalo's busiest intersections at Delaware and Chippewa, directly outside the ICE office at 250 Delaware Avenue. Demonstrators demanded the removal of the facility from what they called a sanctuary city and state.
"The last in a long line of atrocities committed by this organization and the fact that it's allowed to exist in this city, the supposed sanctuary city and the sanctuary state, is beyond the pale," said Nigel Bouvart, a member of Workers World Party Buffalo.
Several protesters expressed outrage over the circumstances of Good's death.
"And it seemed that the shooting was completely unwarranted, and it bothers me. The kind of violence that the ICE is bringing about," said Ann Colley, a Buffalo resident.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance said ICE agents should get absolute immunity and called Good's death "a tragedy of her own making."
"Hearing that news just increases my sense of grief at the loss of Renee Good," said Jennifer Connor, an immigration advocate. "It increases my sense of outrage that her murder is being treated so callously."
Protesters said they were demonstrating not only for Good but also for immigrants living in fear of ICE operations.
"We're not only out here because of Renee Good, we're out here because our neighbors are being kidnapped every day," said Melanie Sage, operations consultant for Our City Action Buffalo. "There are brutal assaults against our immigrant population in Buffalo. Immigrants are what make the city great. Immigrants are my neighbors, and I'm sick of seeing people picked up off the street."
"We need to protect our community," said Jessica Bauer Walker, a community advocate. "What's going on right now is totally unreasonable. We're here standing up for democracy and our Constitution."
Not all attendees supported abolishing ICE entirely. One Buffalo resident said he believed the focus should be on having an administration that upholds the Constitution and follows U.S. laws.
A vigil is planned for Friday at 6 p.m. at the same location outside the ICE office at the intersection of Chippewa and Delaware.
