Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by an immigration officer as federal officials were performing an operation in the area.
MINNEAPOLIS—Residents created a unique system to warn their neighbors about immigration operations “weeks” before an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a protester on Jan. 7.
“People have been carrying their own whistles, like a soccer whistle, whenever an ICE agent or an ICE vehicle is seen—to alert anyone in the area that ICE is nearby,” local resident Francesea Taylor told The Epoch Times during an interview on Jan. 8.
“People have been honking as well, if they’re in vehicles.”
Taylor lives across the street from where 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good crashed after she was shot in the head during an altercation with an immigration officer.
“My roommate and I both woke up to the gunshots, whistling, yelling outside,” Taylor recalled.
Taylor said immigration agents have been gradually showing up across her neighborhood in the southern part of Minneapolis for weeks, and that she is heartbroken that the tragedy happened just outside her front door.
More than half a dozen people confirmed to The Epoch Times that the neighbors’ audible car honks and whistling started around December 2025 as a response to warn of ICE activity, but they did not want to share their names on record.
“If there’s three cars in a row honking and following someone, that’s because it’s an ICE agent,” a resident told The Epoch Times as he was putting up signs to redirect traffic away from the protests on Thursday night.
One family even confirmed carrying whistles at all times, including the kids.
The scene where the ICE altercation happened on Wednesday transformed into a memorial for Good after police cleared the scene.
Thousands paid their respects at the memorial, which was filled with dozens of flowers, candles, and cards. One woman was burning sage over all of the items on Thursday night.
“Things have been really peaceful and wonderful since the police have left, the community has been great,” Taylor said.
But the media attention was overwhelming for her roommates, who decided to temporarily leave the apartment after the incident.
“I think it’s a pretty exhausting thing to have to relive over and over again,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she might leave, too, if the protests get violent or if she’s harassed.
“I think it’s hard not to worry about that when my house is right across the street,” Taylor added. “But, you know, I have places to stay.”
