Family of Renee Good sues US government and Trump officials over her death | CNN
The family of an American woman shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has filed two civil lawsuits related to her death, according to court records filed Thursday in Minnesota federal court.
Renee Good was killed January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis during the height of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge, prompting significant protest in the city and sparking national outrage.
One lawsuit names the United States of America as the sole defendant under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a federal law that allows people to sue the US government for personal injury, property damage or death, caused by alleged negligence of federal employees acting within their job duties.
The second lawsuit alleges, among other things, a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights by senior federal officials, federal immigration enforcement agents, and private actors.
It names Ross, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan, and other Trump administration figures as defendants, as well as ten John Doe federal agents “for their respective individual roles in the operation that led to Renee’s death,” according to the family’s attorneys.
CNN has reached out to the White House, DHS and phone numbers listed under Noem’s name for comment.
Good, a mother of three, had just finished dropping her 6-year-old son off at school when she encountered ICE agents.
The moments leading up to the shooting were captured by bystanders as well as Ross, a 10-year ICE veteran, whose cellphone video starts with him in front of Good’s burgundy SUV. The vehicle was stopped for a few minutes perpendicular to a snowy residential Minneapolis street, obstructing the flow of traffic.
Ross did not say anything as he walked from the front of the car toward the driver’s side.
Good then addressed Ross, the video shows.
“That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” she says. Ross didn’t respond.
Rebecca Good was standing outside the car and said “show your face” to Ross, whose masked reflection is seen on the vehicle’s windows as he continues walking around it. Rebecca Good holds her cellphone up, seemingly recording Ross, and tells him, “You wanna come at us? You wanna come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”
She then tries to get back into the car, but the door is locked.
Another officer then tells Renee Good to “get out of the f**king car.”
Renee Good is then seen reversing the car and glancing forward as she turns the steering wheel to the right. The car moves forward, Ross cries out, “whoa,” and three gunshots are heard. Good was shot shortly after 9:30 a.m., according to a news release from the city government.
The video filmed by Ross captured audio of gunshots but doesn’t show the actual moment of the shooting, though other video from bystanders shows Ross was standing out of the vehicle’s path when he opened fire. He fired first into her windshield and then at close range through the open driver’s side window, videos show.
The end of Ross’s video shows the SUV as it barrels forward. Someone can be heard saying, “f**king b*tch.”
DHS later said Good “weaponized her vehicle” to run over an officer near an ICE vehicle.
The search for accountability for the shooting remains ongoing. In March, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and two state agencies sued the Trump administration for access to evidence in Good’s shooting death as well as the death of Alex Pretti, who was killed by DHS agents in January.
In July, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the Department of Justice had provided a trove of materials related to both shootings to state investigators. No charges have been filed in either case.
This is a developing story and will be updated.