I have written on a couple of other occasions about government use of deadly force against citizens. See, e.g., Kenosha – The Shooting of Jacob Blake https://shiningseausa.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1652&action=edit and When Do We Take a Stand? – Injustice in Georgia https://shiningseausa.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1517&action=edit

The specific situation in Minneapolis lacks the racial component of the other cases I have addressed but is no less troubling. Many words, including grotesque lies by the President and the head of Homeland Security, have already been devoted to trying to justify his actions as “self-defense.” I have looked at most, if not all, the videos of the events leading up to and the actual shooting, so I will not repeat the arguments on either side of those.

I am disturbed by aspects of the situation that have received little or no attention in the media or the hysterics about the “threat” to the ICE agent. Ultimately, despite the government’s efforts to tilt the story in favor of their agent, the truth will almost certainly come out. Sadly, getting there will exact a further emotional and financial price from the people who should not have to pay more than they already have.

My perspective:

I have no idea what was in the mind of Renee Good and her wife when Good parked her car across the path of travel on the street in Minneapolis. Some accounts indicate they were “heckling” the ICE agents. Others emphasize that Good was waiving other vehicles to pass by and that there was ample room to do so. ICE agent Ross’s own video, curiously using his personal cell phone, indicates Good was not engaged in a threatening move against ICE or trying to impede whatever work they were performing there.

That was true at least until ICE agents approached her vehicle and screamed at her: “get out of the f*cking car!” At that point it is reasonable to suppose that Good’s relatively relaxed demeanor would have changed. She would, reasonably, have felt threatened by the masked, armed men trying to force their way into her car. She may or may not have noticed that the ICE officer filming her while circling her car had arrived in front of the vehicle. Her wife was yelling for her to “drive, drive.” She reversed briefly, then turned the wheel to the right to enter the proper direction of travel on the one-way street.

Whether ICE agent Ross’s presence in front of her registered in Good’s mind will never be known.  But what can be known is whether attempting to drive away after suddenly being told in an angry and threatening voice, “get out of the f*cking car!” (while another masked/armed agent tried to force his way into her car) constituted a crime punishable by death. I have seen some attempts to make that case, but they all fail miserably on both the facts and the law.

It is entirely reasonable to believe that the sudden change in circumstances led to a degree of panic. Ms. Good’s worse crimes were, (1) failure to obey an ICE agent’s order to open her door and step out of the car, an order delivered in an angry and threatening tone; she likely had seen what has happened to many other people who obeyed angry orders to “get out of the f*cking car; and (2) attempting to escape a lawful arrest (although no ICE agent ever said “you are under arrest” and based on events leading up to that moment, her self-assessment of the situation could well have been, “they’re just after me for blocking traffic; I’ll just leave”).

So, she tries to drive away. Agent Ross has positioned himself off her left front and has, apparently anticipating that she is not going to get out of the car, switches his cell phone to his left hand and draws his Glock 9 mm pistol, firing three shots, one through the front window and two through the still-open driver side window. At the range involved, Ross can only intend and expect that his firing will result in mortal wounds to Renee Good.

A physician offers to provide aid to her and is rejected in favor of ICE medics who don’t arrive for several more critical minutes. Would the immediate medical help have saved her? We will never know.

And what of ICE agent Ross? Was he struck by Good’s car? Opinions differ. My assessment is that he managed to avoid meaningful contact with Good’s left front fender. The government says otherwise. It claims Ross, despite his being heavily protected by vests and other items, suffered internal bleeding requiring medical treatment in a hospital, though no corroborating records have been released.

What I know is this: in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Ross was filmed walking briskly and unaided, and in no apparent distress, up the street. Someone off camera apparently said or shouted something at him, and he waived them off with his right hand, then adjusted his mask as he continued up the street. The video has apparently been taken down.

Given the government’s rush to vindicate Ross and make him the victim in this situation, the video of his walk back from Good’s car suggests, though it does not prove, that the government’s claim that he shot Good in self-defense is a false claim. His demeanor walking away from Good’s car is that of someone fully satisfied with himself and his conduct.

Obviously, much process and evidence is yet to be developed before final conclusions can be drawn. One thing seems clear, though: the manner in which ICE officers conduct themselves is almost certain to lead to more unnecessary deaths. I believe that what happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis was unnecessary and entirely avoidable if the ICE agents on the scene had behaved responsibly. The last update to the use of force policy at DHS/ICE was promulgated in 2023 and as best I can tell, it still governs the use of force by ICE officers. If so, Officer Ross violated that policy in multiple ways that led to the unnecessary death of Renee Good. Right now, her killing surely looks like murder.