MINNEAPOLIS—Residents created a 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.

Francesea Taylor lives across the street from where 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good crashed after she was shot by an immigration officer. (Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times)

“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.

A resident in Minneapolis has carried a soccer whistle in her pocket for weeks just in case she wanted to notify neighbors of ICE activity in the area. (Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times)

“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.

People gather at a memorial site made for Renee Nicole Good after she was shot and killed during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis on Jan. 8, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

“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.”

Community leaders and civil rights advocates hold a press conference in the lobby of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Jan. 8, 2026. (Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times)

Most of the neighbors The Epoch Times spoke to in the area supported the anti-ICE demonstrations and did not voice any concerns about the crowds, noise, traffic issues, or community-built perimeters that surrounded streets.

Barricades consisted of items such as a broken e-bike, old Christmas trees, city trash cans, wood pallets, and an old chair.

Locals told The Epoch Times that the barriers, which grew twice in size as night fell, were set up by the community and not the police.

Protesters demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations block traffic with bicycles in Minneapolis on Jan. 8, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Epoch Times did not see any law enforcement officers or crime scene tape in the blocks near the shooting site on Thursday afternoon and evening.

As crowds grew on Thursday night, community groups and individuals worked to stop traffic from entering intersections where protests were taking place.

A local cycling group, which identified itself to The Epoch Times as Bike Marshal Lane, was among the volunteers who offered to redirect traffic at a busy intersection as protesters marched through the neighborhood.