Renee Good’s family files lawsuit over her death during ICE raids in Minneapolis: NPR
Renée Good’s family, from left to right; father Tim Ganger, mother Donna Ganger, brother Luke Ganger and brother Brent Ganger, listen during a news conference after the family sued the U.S. government and several immigration officials, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Minneapolis.
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Ellen Schmidt/AP
The family of Renee Bonnethe 37-year-old man killed last January by a federal agent during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign in Minnesota, filed two civil lawsuits against the federal government on Thursday.
One of the lawsuits, against the United States government itself, is essentially a wrongful death case, arguing that Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who killed Good, violated his agency’s own policies and the Fourth Amendment by using excessive force.
She is seeking damages for Good’s family for the suffering she endured in the final moments of her life. And also for his partner, Becca Good, who witnessed the murder. The lawsuit says she suffered intense emotional distress because of what she experienced. Ross shot Renee Good multiple times in her car. At the time, federal officials claimed she had armed her vehicle, although video evidence contradicted that claim.
The other lawsuit is rarer, alleging that federal officials engaged in a conspiracy to undermine the civil rights of Minnesotans.
He argues that Good’s death was the “foreseeable and intended product” of the immigration crackdown in the state and that Ross’s actions were part of a “carefully planned and coordinated effort” to make Somali and Hispanic populations “subjects to assault and kidnapping” and to silence those “who observed, documented and warned about this campaign.”
To make this argument, lawyers at Romanucci & Blandin relied on the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was used to combat terrorism perpetrated by the KKK during the Reconstruction period.
“I would say the second trial is very unusual,” Rachel Moran, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, told NPR. “It immediately struck me because the Trump administration has been aggressively use conspiracy accusationsincluding here in Minnesota, against those involved in protests against the administration’s immigration tactics.
Moran said Good’s trial lawyers appear to “turn this tactic on its head” by arguing that administration officials are themselves involved in an illegal conspiracy.
According to Ben Berkman, one of the attorneys representing Good’s family, the first lawsuit is about what federal agents did to Renee Good on a Minneapolis street last winter. The second concerns why these officers were on this street in the first place.
“This reaches the officer who fired those shots at Renee and it reaches everyone responsible who put him on the street that day,” Berkman said. “No mask, no badge, and no title in administration places anyone above this law.”
Those federal officials include Ross, but also White House adviser Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan and former Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, among others. NPR reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but did not receive a response.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, “We intend to vigorously defend these baseless civil lawsuits.”
The lawsuit also lists 10 federal agents who were also present at the scene under the name John Does, noting that the federal government did not release their identities and that they were wearing masks at the time of the killing.
The civil charges also highlight a lack of criminal charges. DHS has provided little public indication that it was investigating Good’s death or the death of Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents a few weeks later in Minneapolis. According to The Trace, a news site that focuses on gun violence, nine people were killed by immigration officials since President Trump took office last year.
A memorial for Renee Good, who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, remains in place at the site of her death Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Minneapolis.
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Ellen Schmidt/AP
At the state level in Minnesota, local authorities have also failed to file charges or release the findings of any investigation. In a statement, a spokesperson for Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located, told NPR that state and local officials were reviewing the evidence and would “communicate transparently when a decision is made.”
At Thursday’s news conference, Good’s family appeared frustrated with the inaction at all levels. Civil suits, like those filed today by the family, have the potential to hold entire institutions rather than individual actors accountable.
“The fact that there has been no accountability, no investigation, no expression of condolences, no change in policy is completely mind-boggling,” said Brent Ganger, Good’s brother. “We will not wait any longer. Now is absolutely the time for accountability, in the face of the profound damage caused by ICE and others. We will not remain silent. We will not leave.”
Brent and his mother, Donna Ganger, also testified before Congress last week during a hearing into fatal shootings by federal immigration agents.
In her first public appearance since the murder, Becca Good, Renee Good’s partner, also spoke. She focused her words on who Renée was to her, calling her kind and loving, but also on what she lost. Renee Good had three children and Becca is still raising their youngest, aged 6.
“Last August, I got ready to enroll our son in first grade. I bought him new shoes, a backpack, notebooks, a pencil case, the whole nine yards. I went to back-to-school night alone,” Becca Good said. “She never missed a moment. And this Halloween is our son’s favorite holiday. I’ll take him trick-or-treating, without his hand in mine.”
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