The family of Renée Good has filed two federal lawsuits against the U.S. government and immigration officials over her fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this year. The lawsuits were filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota by Good’s partner, Becca Good, and her brother, Brent Ganger. The Renée Good wrongful death claims mark the first major legal action since the January 7 shooting.
The first lawsuit, filed against the United States of America, alleges wrongful death under Minnesota law, predicated on claims of battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. It seeks damages for “the immense suffering Renee endured in the final moments of her life and for the profound and permanent losses that her death has inflicted upon her family.”
The second lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and invokes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. It names ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who fired the shots, along with senior Trump administration officials including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan, Corey Lewandowski, and former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. The lawsuit alleges the officials “conspired to use Operation Metro Surge to deprive Minnesota’s Somali and Hispanic communities of equal protection under the law” and that Good’s killing was “the predictable and intended product” of that campaign.
Video footage shows Good turning her steering wheel away from Ross and beginning to drive when he fired three shots. Federal officials claimed Ross acted in self-defense and that Good had engaged in “an act of domestic terrorism.” Local officials disputed that account. No agents have faced charges. Ross was placed on administrative leave but later reassigned and transferred out of Minnesota.
