McDonald’s Scrambles After Anti-ICE Flyer Appears at Restaurant

A Minneapolis McDonald’s is under fire after a flyer warning federal immigration agents to stay out of the building appeared on its front door. The message was blunt: no ICE access allowed.

The sign went viral within hours. By then, the fast-food giant was already working to contain the fallout.

In a statement to Newsweek, McDonald’s corporate insisted it never approved the flyer. “We’re in touch with the owner/operator of this franchised restaurant and have confirmed that this flyer was posted without approval and has since been taken down,” the company said.

The controversy erupted just one day after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Johnathan Ross during a traffic stop in Minneapolis. Her death has fueled national outrage and sparked fierce debate over the role and conduct of federal agents.

The Flyer That Sparked a Firestorm

The sign, photographed by bystanders and shared widely online, carried legalistic language usually found in immigrant-rights advocacy kits. It warned that ICE officers could not enter employee-only areas without a judicial warrant. “You are not permitted to enter non-public areas without a valid warrant signed by a judge,” it read. The flyer also claimed agents “may not question employees or search the premises without proper legal authority.”

It is still unclear who posted it. Minneapolis has at least eleven McDonald’s locations, but the company has not publicly identified the specific restaurant involved.

The political reaction was immediate. Senator Ted Cruz blasted the flyer as “outrageous” and a sign of “brazen anti-law enforcement bias.”

But labor organizers say such signs have circulated since at least 2017, when several national chains faced pressure from employees demanding protections during workplace immigration raids. A former corporate manager familiar with those campaigns told us, “These templates have been floating around for years. Sometimes staff put them up on their own to feel safer. It doesn’t mean the corporation ordered it.”

Who Is the ICE Agent at the Center of the Shooting?

Newly released court documents identify the officer who shot Good as ICE agent Jonathan Ross, a veteran agent who has worked multiple dangerous fugitive operations. Last year, Ross was dragged nearly 100 yards down a Minnesota street when a suspect attempted to flee with his arm caught in a vehicle window.

“He’s been in high-risk situations before,” a former DHS agent told us. “But a fatal shooting tied to an enforcement stop sets off every alarm at the federal level.”

Conflicting Narratives About the Fatal Shooting

Officials are now offering sharply different accounts of what happened during Wednesday’s traffic stop.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the ICE agents’ actions and said the agents were dealing with harsh winter conditions when Good allegedly rammed them with her vehicle. “They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them,” Noem said. “An officer acted quickly and defensively. These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism.”

Local leaders are calling that description false.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he reviewed video footage and openly rejected DHS’s account. “They are already trying to spin this as self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bull****.”

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar went even further, blaming the Trump Administration for escalating tensions during immigration operations. “ICE’s actions today were unconscionable and reprehensible,” Omar wrote on X. “Their reckless, callous actions led to the killing of a legal observer in Minneapolis.”

A Community on Edge

Good’s death has rattled immigrant communities, civil-rights groups, and Minneapolis residents still wary of law-enforcement controversies after the killing of George Floyd.

A longtime community activist told us, “People here are tired of federal agencies acting with no accountability. The sign at McDonald’s didn’t come from nowhere. It reflects a real fear.”

What Comes Next

The FBI has opened a civil-rights investigation into the shooting. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has ordered an independent state probe as well.

McDonald’s, meanwhile, is trying to distance itself from the incident and prevent further backlash. The company has not said whether the franchise owner will face disciplinary action.

For now, the sign is gone. The questions are not.