Premier Wab Kinew is voicing solidarity with Minnesotans after a woman was shot dead in Minneapolis by a U.S. immigration officer last week, setting off days of protests.

Kinew said he spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday after having also reached out to Minnesota Lt.-Gov. Peggy Flanagan shortly after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot Renee Nicole Good three times in her vehicle.

“I offered whatever assistance we could provide and of course the sense of solidarity that we could send down to our American friends and, in many cases, family,” Kinew said at an unrelated news conference Monday in Winnipeg.

“I let him know that we here in Manitoba support our neighbours … and of course, we just want to see what’s happening down there stop.”

Video circulated Wednesday of an ICE agent firing three shots at Good, 37, while she was behind the wheel of her SUV in Minneapolis.

More footage emerged from the ICE officer’s perspective Friday.

Those videos contradict characterizations by U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and others who have said Good was attempting to ram the officer with her SUV.

The shooting set off days of ongoing protests, with Walz declaring Friday a “day of unity” in the state in an attempt to tamp down tensions and prevent further violence.

“Regardless of where you stand on immigration, regardless of where you stand on Trump, I think everyone agrees that seeing a mother have her life taken in such a way is just wrong,” Kinew said Monday.

“Let’s just find a way to help our American neighbours make it through this difficult period in that country so that we can get back to a more positive way of life.”

Third-world country comments

Kinew also pointed to recent statements by former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura who compared the U.S. to a “third-world country.”

The Vietnam-war veteran and former Navy Seal equated the state of American politics under Trump to that of the dictatorship that emerged while he was deployed in the Philippines in the 1970s under then-president Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr.

“We went from nobody to a guy with a machine gun on every corner. That’s what happens in a dictatorship: In comes the military,” Ventura told WCCO-CBS Minnesota. “That’s what’s happening here.”

Kinew said he didn’t have on his “2026 bingo card” that he would be agreeing with Ventura.

“Jesse Ventura said recently that America is becoming a third-world country when they have military police operations taking place in large cities. He’s not wrong,” Kinew said.

“That is something that should cause all of us concern.”

He urged Manitobans to check in with American friends and family.

“I can tell you it meant a lot to Gov. Walz to have our province reach out and offer support. I think if you could do the same to American friends and relatives that would be greatly appreciated,” he said.

“Thank God we’re Canadian, and we’re going to keep it that way.”

The premier also said Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party would “have some explaining to do” on Monday after a member of its board posted comments on social media seeming to suggest support for ICE.

On Monday, PC Leader Obby Khan distanced the party from board member Patrick Allard and comments he made online about ICE over the weekend.

Khan said Allard has been suspended over “inappropriate and offensive” comments online following the fatal shooting and will not be permitted to run under the PC banner.