The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has responded to Billie Eilish re-sharing a post that calls ICE a “terrorist organisation” after the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman.
READ MORE: Billie Eilish – ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ review: bold, brilliant and somewhat brighter
Renee Nicole Good was killed on Wednesday (January 7) by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, which triggered widespread protests across the country. Good, a prize-winning poet with a wife and three children, was killed during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation.
She was a volunteer in a network of “neighbourhood patrols” keeping track of ICE operations in Minneapolis and was shot in her car by a federal agent.
On Friday (January 9), Eilish took to her Instagram to share several posts condemning the organisation, including one graphic that called ICE a “federally funded and supported terrorist group,” with the original creator describing the agency’s actions as “tearing apart families, terrorising citizens, and now murdering innocent people,” per Billboard.
Now, the DHS has responded, with assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin saying: “Clearly, Billie Eilish has not seen the newly released footage, which corroborates what DHS has stated all along — that this individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to federal law enforcement,” per Billboard.
McLaughlin claims that the officer, Jonathan Ross, had been “in fear of his own life [and] the lives of his fellow officers and acted in self-defense”.
“The American people can watch this video with their own eyes and ears and judge for themselves.”
Billie Eilish condemns ICE in new Instagram reposts:
“ICE IS A FEDERALLY FUNDED AND SUPPORTED TERRORIST GROUP UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY THAT HAS DONE NOTHING TO MAKE OUR STREETS SAFER.” pic.twitter.com/XnqfdwDHQH
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 9, 2026
McLaughlin continued: “ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.
“This is consistent with past administrations’ immigration enforcement. It’s garbage rhetoric from the likes of Billie Eilish that is leading to a 1,300 per cent increase in assaults and 3,200 per cent increase in vehicle rammings against our brave law enforcement.”
Duran Duran and Dave Matthews are among the other artists who have criticised US President Donald Trump‘s administration in the wake of Good’s death. Neil Young has also commented on the shooting, urging Americans to “rise up” against ICE, while Joe Keery called out Trump for defending ICE after the death of Good.
The incident happened on a residential street in Minneapolis and, soon after, the president was quick to defend the actions of the ICE agent, writing on Truth Social that he had reviewed footage from the moment and concluded that the officer was acting “in self-defence”.
“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defence,” he said.
Footage from the incident shows that seconds before the shooting, Good attempted to drive away from the confrontation. DHS officials have claimed that she had been trying to “run over” the officer with her vehicle.
Following Good’s death, Minneapolis residents have rallied to mourn her loss and protest ICE’s presence in the city. Mayor Jacob Frey called for federal agents to leave Minneapolis, saying in a press conference, “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
In other news, ICE are no longer running ads on Spotify, following concerns relating to the fatal shooting of Good.
Eilish has long been vocal in her opposition to Trump’s policies, and has been an advocate for gun control in America, speaking out after the Brown University shooting in December.
She previously appeared alongside a host of artists in a Artist For Action To Prevent Gun Violence video, calling for gun control in 2023, and in 2019, she also implored her fans to speak up to help impose stricter gun control laws in the US, following two deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
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