Renee Good’s family sues Trump administration over fatal
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
What exactly happened on that Minneapolis street on Jan. 7? The cellphone video shows a moment, not the whole encounter.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
The family of Renee Good filed two federal lawsuits on Thursday against the Trump administration and the immigration officer who fatally shot her during a January enforcement operation in Minneapolis .
The complaints accused federal officials of wrongful death and civil rights violations stemming from the Jan. 7 encounter, which was captured on cellphone video. The family is seeking damages and a jury trial.
Even seashells would make a better national reserve than Bitcoin National Guard deployment tallies up $49 million in food costs alone Florida to take down Flock cameras put up by unknown owner FILE – Brent and Luke Ganger, brothers of Renee Good, from left, and their parents, Donna and Tim Ganger, are pictured during an interview, while holding up a frame with photographs of Good when she graduated from Old Dominion University, in Denver, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) One lawsuit seeks to hold the United States liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the conduct of federal agents.
It alleges wrongful death, battery, assault, false imprisonment, emotional distress, and negligence. The second lawsuit names Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross, who fired the shots, along with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem .
Good’s family accused the officials of violating her constitutional rights through excessive force. Good, 37, was in the driver’s seat of a car blocking the road where ICE officers were working when officers ordered her to leave the vehicle.
Ross, who had moved near the front left side of the SUV, shouted “Whoa!” and fired three times after Good put the car in reverse, striking Good in the head, arm, and torso. Trump administration officials defended Ross and said Good had tried to run him over.
Witnesses said Ross did not appear to be directly in the SUV’s path. The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that the shooting was a justified use of force in a dangerous situation. Ross has not publicly discussed the shooting and has not been charged with any crime.
The encounter occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which sent about 3,000 federal immigration officers to the Twin Cities as part of President Donald Trump’s deportation push. The deployment prompted protests and resistance from Minnesota officials before it ended in February.
Good’s killing intensified scrutiny of the operation. An immigration officer wounded Venezuelan delivery driver Julio Sosa-Celis days later, and Customs and Border Protection officers fatally shot Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen, later that month.
The Justice Department declined to investigate the agents involved in Good’s killing, a decision that prompted at least six federal prosecutors in Minneapolis to resign. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is investigating the deaths of Good and Pretti for violations of Minnesota law, but local officials say the DOJ’s refusal to share evidence has slowed the work.
JIM JUSTICE WALKS BACK CRITICISM OF TRUMP’S ICE OPERATIONS Minnesota has sued the administration to obtain evidence collected at the shooting scenes. The Washington Examiner contacted DHS and the DOJ for comment.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
What exactly happened on that Minneapolis street on Jan. 7? The cellphone video shows a moment, not the whole encounter. Renee Good's family has now turned that moment into two federal lawsuits against the Trump administration and the immigration officer who fired the shot. They claim wrongful death and civil rights violations. Maybe they have a case. Maybe they don't. But filing a lawsuit isn't the same as proving one.
Immigration officers don't wake up hoping for a deadly confrontation. They act in situations that turn dangerous in seconds. The officer in this case was doing a job the Biden administration refused to do, and now the family wants to put him on trial for it. That's a problem for anyone who wants border enforcement to actually mean something. Every officer is one bad encounter away from being sued. The left will treat this as proof that immigration enforcement is inherently violent. It isn't. It's a hard job made harder by people who would rather score political points than let the facts play out.
We should also note the venue. Minneapolis has become the symbol of progressive criminal justice failure. Leaders there defunded the police, watched murder rates climb, and now they're cheering for a lawsuit against a federal agent. The outrage is selective. If Renee Good had been shot by a Minneapolis police officer, the same voices would demand the officer be fired. Because it's an immigration officer, it's suddenly a national scandal. The legal system should sort out the facts. That's what courts are for. But let's not pretend this is about justice for one family. It's about using a tragedy to hamstring immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration should fight this in court, not in the press. Show the evidence. Defend the officer if the facts warrant. But don't cave to the pressure. The rule of law goes both ways. A family has a right to sue. An officer has a right to due process. And the American people have a right to expect that their immigration laws will be enforced without fear of a lawsuit every time something goes wrong.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.