On Wednesday, Jan. 7, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen was shot and killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
Renee Nicole Good was reportedly returning from dropping off one of her three sons at school when she encountered the ICE agents.
Moments before shots were fired, Good was recorded speaking with an agent from inside her car while her wife exited the vehicle and filmed the interaction. In the video, Good told the agent she was “not mad” in a low, calm voice. Renee’s wife told the agent that Good was a U.S. citizen. After her wife gets back into the car, she tells Good to drive away. As Good began to leave, the Trump administration claimed she “tried to run over the U.S. ICE officer.” According to NBC News, another officer attempted to open the driver’s door before the vehicle moved. As she drove away, shots were fired, and Good was killed. The vehicle then crashed into a parked car.
The ICE agent who shot and killed Good has been identified as Jonathan Ross, a veteran ICE agent. Federal officials claimed that Ross was injured by the car and later treated in a hospital.
As the FBI continued to investigate the incident, BBC News reported that Trump stated the administration would always protect ICE. Other White House officials spoke out, defending the agent’s actions and describing the shooting as self-defense.
Later on, it was revealed that Good and her wife, Becca Good, had arrived at an ICE enforcement operation, where community members were blocking off officers, to support their neighbors. Becca Good told local media that while protesters were carrying whistles on the scene, ICE was carrying guns.
Following the death of Renee Nicole Good, many continued to protest. Demonstrators gathered outside locations where ICE agents were believed to be. Approximately 30 people were detained and cited by the Minneapolis Police Department. It was also reported that many were not only peacefully protesting but also vandalizing property.
While there was initially an investigation launched, the FBI later reversed course, and the Justice Department agreed that they wouldn’t be investigating the shooting because it was self-defense. A federal investigator who had begun her civil rights investigation alongside the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was reportedly instructed to shift the investigation focus towards assault on an officer. It is unclear who that investigator was, but, according to CNN, the FBI later blocked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (CBA) from further involvement in the case.