In a striking interview, former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura has harshly condemned the Trump administration’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in U.S. cities, likening the scene to a “Third World country” and drawing a parallel to 1930s Germany.
Ventura, a former Navy SEAL and professional wrestler, made the comments following the fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this week. “What’s happening in our cities, with the military doing police work—that’s what I saw in the Philippines under martial law. That’s what happens in a dictatorship,” he stated.
Pointing to his own experience in Southeast Asia and referring to President Trump as a “draft dodger,” Ventura warned Americans to “wake up” and learn from history. “Look at 1930s Germany and compare it to what’s happening here,” he urged.
The former governor also addressed Good’s death, calling it a preventable tragedy. “Any time you have the loss of life that needlessly happens, that’s a tragedy. And what occurred yesterday didn’t have to happen,” he said.
The shooting, captured on social media video, shows an ICE officer firing into Good’s vehicle as she began to drive forward after agents approached her car. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has described the incident as an act of “domestic terrorism,” alleging Good “weaponized her vehicle”—a claim disputed by her ex-husband, who said she was not an activist.
Ventura’s remarks add to a growing chorus of criticism over the aggressive use of federal immigration enforcement in American cities, framing it not just as a policy dispute but as a fundamental shift toward authoritarianism.
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