Protests in Minneapolis have intensified amid an increased presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, both locally and nationally. The demonstrations escalated following the fatal shooting of activist Renee Good. On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good at close range while she was inside her car.
This incident has led to significant political turmoil, as people on both the left and right have debated whether the shooting was self-defense or a deliberate act of violence. Each side has interpreted the circumstances surrounding the event differently.
To better understand the incident, let’s break it down from the beginning. It began with a large presence of ICE vehicles and agents in the area, responding to an ICE vehicle that had become stuck in the snow. This gathering of multiple agents drew the attention of locals, who approached and warned others about the agents, bringing even more observers to the scene as people began filming.
In a video recorded by Jonathan Ross on his cellphone moments before the shooting, Renee Good is seen in her SUV saying, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” likely in response to Ross approaching her while filming. Her wife, Becca Good, is also seen outside the vehicle, speaking with and filming ICE agents.
Seconds later, an agent is heard telling Renee to “get out of the f**king car.” Footage from another angle, Good is filmed reversing the car, then turning it forward and to the right. She can also be seen turning the steering wheel to the right. In Ross’s video, Good appears to be pulling forward to the right when Ross shouts and fires his weapon into the vehicle, striking her.
Because of the different angles and the manner of the incident, people’s interpretations of the evidence have varied on whether or not the agent had the right to kill Good. Vice President JD Vance responded to the killing, stating that her death was “a tragedy of her own making,” and claimed she was attempting to run over the ICE agent with her car. Civil liberties lawyer Rachel Levinson-Waldman stated in an article that “[Good] was attempting to maneuver her car away from federal agents at the time she was shot.” President Trump referred to the incident as a “mistake” in a message denouncing ICE protestors.
Since the shooting, protestors and demonstrators carrying signs have marched through Minneapolis, demanding that ICE leave the city amid the surge of agents that Trump sent to crack down on illegal immigrants. Protestors made a point to denounce ICE and peacefully humanize Renee Good as an activist. In a recent statement, Leah Greenberg, leader of Indivisible, an organizing activist group demonstrating in Minnesota, said, “Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today.”
As of now, there are no sources that verify that Jonathan Ross has been arrested or charged with any crime, especially given the nature of the debate around this topic.