Protesters gather in downtown Louisville in response to fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Metro Hall in downtown Louisville on Thursday evening for a rally, march and vigil in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday set off a clash between federal and state officials over whether the shooting appeared justified. It also set off protests across the country, including in Louisville.

Thursday's rally started around 6 p.m., with speakers taking to the steps of Metro Hall to have their voices heard.

"I'm here to stand up and be counted for patriotism," said Lonnie Turner, holding an American flag. "And I always got aggravated by people who would call our leaders fascists and so forth because, if you know what fascism is, it wasn't. And so I was like 'Gosh, guys, dial it down.'"

A local councilmember was also among Thursday's protesters. Aside from his duties on Metro Council, JP Lyninger is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was behind a bill aimed at updating the city's mask ordinance to prevent law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing masks to conceal their identities.

But Metro Council voted 13-12 to not add language to the current mask ordinance to clarify law enforcement is not exempt. Louisville's current mask ordinance prohibits citizens from wearing masks during the commission of a crime. At the time, Lyninger said it's a matter of preserving a free society.

In a Facebook post Wednesday in response to the deadly Minneapolis shooting, Lyninger said he would try again to ban masked police in Louisville.

"My ordinance to ban masked police at every level in Louisville failed by a single vote, with one Democrat joining every Republican voting No' and another Democrat voting 'present,'" the post read. "We don't have the power to abolish ICE at the Metro Council, but we do have the power to say what our local laws on masking are. I will refile this legislation to do what I can to keep this from happening in our city."

He joined the protesters in criticizing the deadly Minneapolis shooting.

"I believe that it is preventable," Lyninger said. "For one thing, I think that ICE is not operating as a legitimate law enforcement agency. I think that they're a secret police."

On Thursday afternoon, Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey agreed with Lyninger the shooting was preventable, calling it an "absolute tragedy."

IMAGES | Hundreds gather in downtown Louisville for protest, vigil after fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Protesters gathered in front of Metro Hall for a rally before marching toward the city's Immigration Office for a vigil in honor of Renee Good, the woman shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

"There is a reason why we have policies that say 'Don't put yourself in a bad position.' That's why we have policies surrounding shooting at people inside of vehicles," Humphrey said. "It seems like it was something that, based on tactics, could've been easily preventable. It's an absolute tragedy what's going on up there and I really feel for that community and I feel for that police department."

But Vice President JD Vance said the shooting is not so clear cut.

"What I'm certain of is that she accelerated in a way where she ran into the guy," Vance said during a news conference Thursday at the White House. "I don't know what was in her heart and what was in her head, but I know that she violated the law and I know that officer was acting in self defense."

There is no universal training standard for law enforcement when it comes to firing at a moving vehicle, the Associated Press reported. But most police departments and federal guidance bar shooting at a moving vehicle unless the driver poses an imminent threat of deadly force beyond the car itself.

LMPD policy states officers won't shoot their guns at or from a moving vehicle except in response to potential or active gunfire, or if the vehicle is being used as a weapon against an officer.

Thursday's gathering grew in size and in volume as they made their way down 6th Street, onto Broadway, and from Broadway onto 7th Street. There, the group stopped in front of the city's Immigration Office for a moment of silence. People took a knee or sat in the street for several seconds as the group honored Good.

"We just really hope that people understand that it's important that everybody speak up, to make it clear that what is happening is not OK," said one woman.

She was part of a group of four women who said they were protesting in the 1960s, and that they feel the same anxiety today they felt then.

"I think we're scared," one said. "I think, I think we're tense and not knowing what's going to happen next."

From Seventh Street, marchers headed back to Jefferson Square Park to sing songs and read poems written by Good as part of a memorial service in her honor.

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