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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) will give students the option of learning from home through February 12 following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, according to local media citing the president of a teachers union.
The school district, which has an enrolment of about 29,000 students, had previously said there would be no classes for the rest of the week “due to safety concerns” after Wednesday’s shooting.
According to Fox 9, Marcia Howard, the president of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE), wrote on Facebook that students will be given the option to learn from home through February 12. According to KSTP Eyewitness News, on Wednesday, the district said e-learning is only allowable for severe weather. MPS is yet to comment.
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“This is an OPTION and exactly what so many families need right now,” Howard wrote in the post. “MFE members brought this to MPS and MPS listened. Let’s stay strong together Minneapolis.”
The Department of Homeland Security has previously said that ICE “does NOT raid or target schools.”
Newsweek has contacted the school district and the union for further comment via an email sent outside regular business hours.
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Why It Matters
The shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown has ignited tensions in Minneapolis, with demonstrators taking to the streets in protest and calling for ICE to leave the city.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly characterized the shooting as an act of self-defense and suggested Good used her vehicle as a weapon to attack the officer who shot her. But state and local officials and protesters have rejected that characterization, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying the self-defense argument is a “garbage narrative.”
What to Know
El Colegio High School, a charter school in Minneapolis that provides a bilingual education, announced on Facebook that classes will be held online until further notice.
It also comes after local news outlet MPR News reported that armed federal agents were spotted outside Roosevelt High School after classes ended for the day on Wednesday afternoon. MPR News reported that video it obtained showed masked officers with Border Patrol insignia on their uniform dealing with a person on the sidewalk outside the school and grappling with another as people nearby blew whistles and shouted.
It said, school principal Christian Ledesma had emailed parents to say the school had “instituted a lockout due to law enforcement presence outside of our school involving a vehicle that stopped near our building” after the school’s regular dismissal time. Ledesma said staff and students “witnessed law enforcement engage with people at Roosevelt.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to Newsweek that agents were near the school because a U.S. citizen who was "actively trying to impede operations" had "rammed his vehicle into a government vehicle" before leading agents on a five-mile chase. "At no point was a school, students, or staff targeted, and agents would not have been near this location if not for the dangerous actions of this individual," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that a teacher "proceeded to assault" a Border Patrol agent and a crowd that formed "threw objects and dispersed paint" onto officers and their vehicles. The spokesman denied claims tear gas was deployed.
MFE said in a statement on Facebook, citing an incident during a site's dismissal, that a member was detained and released. At a news conference on Thursday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, condemned the incident and urged elected officials to speak out.
What People Are Saying
Minneapolis Public Schools said in a notice on Wednesday: “Out of an abundance of caution, there will be no school on Thursday, Jan. 8 and Friday, Jan. 9 due to safety concerns related to today’s incidents around the city. All MPS-sponsored programs, activities, athletics and Community Education classes, including adult education, will be canceled. The district will not move to e-learning because that is only allowable for severe weather.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said at a news conference on Thursday: “I can’t say this strongly enough as governor, as a parent, as a teacher, to our elected representatives, Democrats and Republicans, I beg you, I implore you, to tell them to stay out of our schools. This tragedy will be magnified a hundredfold if this fight moves into the hallways of our public schools amongst our youth.”
The DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Newsweek: "On January 7, Border Patrol agents were conducting immigration enforcement operations in the Central Neighborhood area of Minneapolis when a US Citizen was actively trying to impede operations. The subject proceeded to escalate his actions into violence and rammed his vehicle into a government vehicle. The subject began a 5-mile chase, putting the public and children in danger by running red lights, driving into oncoming traffic, and dangerously driving into a school zone where he finally decided to stop. At no point was a school, students, or staff targeted, and agents would not have been near this location if not for the dangerous actions of this individual.
"While the subject was being removed from his vehicle, an individual who identified himself as a teacher proceeded to assault a border patrol agent. While this was happening, a crowd began to form and grow—rioters threw objects and dispersed paint on the officers and their vehicles. Despite repeated warnings to cease, the crowd continued with their hostilities and assaults. Officers used targeted crowd control for the safety of law enforcement and the public. No tear gas was deployed."
What Happens Next
Schools will reopen on Monday, according to Minneapolis Public Schools.
Update 01/09/2026 3:47AM ET - This article was updated to add report to the headline and cite the story is based on reporting by local media and is yet to be confirmed by Newsweek
Update 01/09/2026 6:11AM ET This article was updated with more information
Update 01/09/2026 6:55AM ET: This article was updated with comment from DHS
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