tragedy

WASHINGTON — When a 37-year-old mother of three was fatally shot by an immigration agent Wednesday morning, driving in her Minneapolis neighborhood after dropping her son off at school, the Trump administration’s response was swift. The victim was to blame for her own death — acting as a “professional agitator,” a “domestic terrorist,” possibly trained to use her car against law enforcement, officials said.

It was an uncompromising response without any pretense the administration would rely on independent investigations of the event, video of which quickly circulated online, gripping the nation.

“You can accept that this woman’s death is a tragedy,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media, defending the shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent within hours of her death, “while acknowledging it’s a tragedy of her own making.”

The shooting of Renee Nicole Good, an American citizen, put the administration on defense over one of President Trump’s signature policy initiatives, exponentially expanding the ranks of ICE to outnumber most armies, and deploying its agents across unassuming communities throughout the United States.

ICE had just announced the deployment of “the largest immigration operation ever” in the Minnesota city, allegedly targeting Somali residents involved in fraud schemes. But Good’s death could prove a turning point. The shooting has highlighted souring public opinion on Trump’s immigration enforcement, with a majority of Americans now disapproving of the administration’s tactics, according to Pew Research.

Despite the outcry, Trump’s team doubled down on Thursday, vowing to send even more agents to the Midwestern state.

It was not immediately clear whether Good had positioned her car intentionally to thwart law enforcement agents, or in protest of their activities in her neighborhood.

Eyewitnesses to the shooting said that ICE agents were telling her to move her vehicle. Initial footage that emerged of the incident showed that, as she was doing so, Good briefly drove her car in reverse before turning her front wheels away to leave the scene.

She was shot three times by an officer who stood by her front left headlight, who the Department of Homeland Security said was hit by Good and fired in self-defense.

Only Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, urged caution from lawmakers and the public in responding to the incident, telling people to “take a deep breath” and “hold their judgment” for additional footage and evidence.

He distanced himself from the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary, Kristi Noem, who took mere hours to accuse the deceased of domestic terrorism. “The investigation’s just started,” Homan told CBS in an interview.

“I’m not going to make a judgment call on one video,” he said. “It would be unprofessional to comment.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Renee Nicole Good was engaged in “domestic terrorism” when she was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent.

(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

Yet, asked why DHS had felt compelled to comment, Homan replied, “that’s a question for Homeland Security.”

It was not just the department. Trump, too, wrote on X that the victim was “obviously, a professional agitator.”

“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer,” Trump wrote, “who seems to have shot her in self defense.”

Noem was unequivocal in her assessment of the incident during engagements with the media on Wednesday and Thursday.

“It was an act of domestic terrorism,” Noem said. “A woman attacked them, and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over.”

But local officials and law enforcement expressed concern over the incident, warning federal officials that the deployment had unnecessarily increased tensions within the community, and expressing support for the rights of residents to peacefully protest.

“What I think everybody knows that’s been happening here over the last several weeks is that there have been groups of people exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” Minneapolis Chief of Police Brian O’Hara said in an interview with MS NOW. “They have the right to observe, to livestream and record police activity, and they have the right to protest and object to it.”

“The line is, people must be able to exercise those 1st Amendment rights lawfully,” O’Hara said, adding, “and to do it safely.”

On Thursday, Trump administration officials told local law enforcement that the investigation of the matter would be within federal hands.

Vance told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security would both investigate the case, and said without evidence that Good had “aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the accelerator.”

“I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it’s a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement, a lunatic fringe, against our law enforcement officers,” Vance said.

Yorath was twice involved with taking Wales to the brink of qualification for the World Cup finals – a feat that had only previously been achieved once, in 1958.

He was captain in 1977 when Scotland controversially beat Wales 2-0 at Anfield with the first goal coming from the spot after Scotland striker Joe Jordan appeared to handle the ball in the Wales penalty box, but the decision went in the Scots’ favour.

Jordan, previously a team-mate at Leeds, was also godfather to Yorath’s daughter Gabby.

Then, as manager in 1993, Yorath had steered Wales to within a win of reaching the 1994 finals in the USA, only to see his team lose 2-1 at home to Romania.

Paul Bodin missed an opportunity to put Wales 2-1 ahead when he hit the crossbar from the penalty spot, though Yorath refused to blame the defender.

“It wasn’t Paul’s fault we lost the game. People forget [goalkeeper] Nev Southall made a hash of it for the first goal from [Gheorghe] Hagi,” he told BBC Radio Wales.

The match was Yorath’s last in charge of Wales as he was not offered a new contract.

He was inducted into the Welsh Sport Hall of Fame in 2017.

BBC Breakfast presenters Sally Nugent and Jon Kay spoke to a mum whose daughter was killed in a car crash in 2017

BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent announced some heartbreaking news on Wednesday’s show after a guest’s daughter tragically died.

Sharon Huddleston, whose 18-year-old daughter Caitlin died in a car accident in 2017, appeared on the BBC programme on Wednesday morning (January 7), reports the Express. She shared that the coroner had attributed Caitlin’s death to driver inexperience, prompting her to campaign for graduated driving licences.

Presenter Sally outlined: “Learner drivers in England and Wales could face a mandatory wait of up to six months between sitting their theory and practical tests as part of a new road safety strategy being launched by the government today.”

Her co-presenter Jon Kay chimed in: “While some campaign groups have welcomed these proposals, others have criticised the government for stopping short of introducing what are called graduated driving licences, which is where newly qualified drivers face restrictions until they’ve got a bit more experience.”

Sharon responded: “Well, it’s great that we’ve got a road safety strategy because it’s been 14 years since we’ve had one, so that’s good news. And it’s also good news that young drivers are being addressed in the strategy, but I don’t think it goes far enough. I understand that the limited period for learner drivers is a good thing because we’re seeing like 17-year-olds pass the test within a few weeks, and then they’re on the roads.

“But the element I am passionate about because of the reason why my daughter was killed is that she was a passenger in a newly qualified driver’s car, and the coroner put the crash down to the inexperience of the newly qualified driver.

“And so the element that I am passionate about, the graduated driving licence, is the passenger safety precaution, and that’s the element that I would have liked to have seen addressed in the strategy as well.”

Jon chimed in: “There’s lots in this strategy, isn’t there, for all drivers potentially of all ages, but as far as young drivers are concerned, what it’s saying then is that you would have to, if you pass your theory test, you’re going to have to wait six months to get more practice before you take the practical test. But what you would like to see is a delay in what you can do after the test, after the practical test as well.”

Sharon continued, acknowledging it as “a very positive thing” that the issue was being addressed, but emphasised that “we need more”.

“It doesn’t go far enough for us,” she expressed. “And as I say, if this element of the safety precaution of passengers was in place in 2017, my daughter would be alive.

“You know, and this law has been campaigned for for decades now. Unfortunately, I didn’t know about it until after Caitlin was killed. It was too late.”

Sally said: “And it’s really important to make the point that, as you’ve mentioned already, the coroner said it was inexperience. That’s really key, isn’t it? It was simple inexperience that contributed to this terrible tragedy.”

BBC Breakfast is broadcast on BBC One.

CHRIS Rea became the third of his siblings to die in just three months – sending his heartbroken family “into shock”.

Devastated relatives of the Driving Home for Christmas singer revealed he had welcomed his first grandchild shortly before his “tragic” death.

Chris died in hospital following a short illness, a spokesperson for his family said on Monday.

In a statement on behalf of his wife and two children, they said: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

“He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”

The singer songwriter’s death – just three days before Christmas – becomes the latest heartbreak for his family.

His older sister, Camille Whitaker, revealed two of Chris’ siblings had also sadly passed away just months ago.

She told how her youngest sibling, Nicholas, died in hospital aged 66 in October after battling brain cancer.

Just days after his funeral, Camille’s twin sister Geraldine Milward died suddenly – sending the family into shock.

She told the Daily Mail: “It is an awful pain. It is gut-wrenching what happened. The family has been quite shocked by it.

“It is tragic. We can’t sort of get around it.”

Camille, who says she last spoke to Chris less than a week ago, admitted his family will be “wrecked” by his passing.

The iconic hit writer lived with his wife and family at home in Buckingham and remained “very close” with his family.

Camille also told how Chris was “very pleased” when he became a grandfather for the first time this year.

Prior to his death, the singer-songwriter battled a number of health issues after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over 40 years ago.

Chris reportedly went under the knife for serious ops nine times, spending over half a year in hospital following his cancer diagnosis at the age of 33.

Discussing the shock prognosis with Saga, he told how it had been his “Mount Everest” to climb.

Chris explained: “The original illness hit me hard. I almost had a nervous breakdown with the shock of it. That was the Mount Everest to climb.

“When they said it was pancreatic cancer, I could not believe it. It seemed that if your DNA says you are going to have cancer, then you can.

“They did not think I would recover from the first operation, but I was determined to do so for my wife and the girls.”