The family of an American woman fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has filed two civil lawsuits related to her death, according to court records filed Thursday in federal court in Minnesota.
Renee Good was killed Jan. 7 by ICE Agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis at the height of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge, provoking major protests in the city and sparking national outrage.
A 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 United States government for personal injury, property damage, or death caused by alleged negligence of federal employees acting in the line of duty.
The second lawsuit alleges, among other things, a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights by high-ranking federal officials, federal immigration enforcement agents, and private actors.
It names Ross, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan and other Trump administration figures as defendants, along with ten John Doe federal agents “for their respective individual roles in the operation that led to Renee’s death,” according to the family’s lawyers.
CNN has contacted the White House, DHS and phone numbers listed under Noem’s name for comment.
Good, a mother of three, had just dropped 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 veteran of ICE, whose cellphone video begins with him in front of Good’s burgundy SUV. The vehicle was stopped for several minutes perpendicular to a snow-covered residential street in Minneapolis, obstructing traffic.
Ross said nothing as he walked from the front of the car to the driver’s side.
Good then addressed Ross, the video shows.
“It’s okay, man. I’m not mad at you,” she said. Ross didn’t answer.
Rebecca Good stood outside the car and said “show your face” to Ross, whose obscured reflection is visible in the vehicle’s windows as he continues to drive around it. Rebecca Good holds her cellphone up in the air, apparently recording Ross, and says to him, “You want to come to us? You want to come to 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 told Renee Good to “get out of the damn car.”
Renee Good is then seen reversing and looking forward as she turns the steering wheel to the right. The car moves forward, Ross shouts “whoa” and three gunshots are heard. Good was shot shortly after 9:30 a.m., according to a city government news release.
The video Ross filmed captured audio of the gunshots but did not show the actual moment of the shooting, although another bystander video showed Ross standing out of the vehicle’s path when he opened fire. He shot first at her windshield, then point-blank through the open driver’s side window, videos show.
The end of Ross’ video shows the SUV as it speeds forward. Someone can be heard saying, “fucking bitch.”
DHS later said Good “cocked his vehicle” to run over an agent near an ICE vehicle.
The search for responsibility 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 Prosecutor Mary Moriarty announced that the Justice Department had provided state investigators with a trove of documents related to the two shootings. No charges were filed in either case.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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