Govind Tekale
Her name was Renee Good
Renee Nicole Macklin Good was 37 years old. She was a writer and poet. She lived in Minneapolis with her partner Becca and their 6-year-old son. She was a mother of three. She had no criminal history. She was not the target of any investigation. On January 7, 2026, she was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
What happened on January 7
Good had just dropped her son at school. It was 9:37 a.m. She was driving on Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis. ICE agents were conducting operations in her neighborhood during ICE arrested 39,563 individuals in June 2026 alone. Good honked her horn to alert neighbors to the ICE presence. Agent Jonathan Ross opened fire. He fired three shots through the windshield, then through the driver window. Good was driving away from him. She was unarmed. Ross recorded the encounter on his phone. Major news outlets verified the video.
Why her family is suing
The government’s response was immediate and false. The Department of Homeland Security called Good’s death a case of “domestic terrorism.” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and VP JD Vance called it domestic terrorism. Noem claimed Good “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.” This was not true. Good was driving away. No agent rendered medical aid after the shooting. When a bystander physician tried to help, the ICE agent turned her away. Good died without receiving care.
The two lawsuits
On October 1, 2026, two lawsuits were filed. Becca Good, her partner, and Brent Ganger, her brother, filed them. The first lawsuit was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the United States government. It alleges wrongful death, battery, assault, false imprisonment, and negligence. The second lawsuit invoked the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a civil rights law. It names Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who fired the shots. It also names Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Thomas Homan, Corey Lewandowski, Gregory Bovino and former ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons. It names ten additional agents as John Doe defendants. The lawsuit alleges civil rights conspiracy targeting Somali and Hispanic communities, per the Trump mass deportation plan.
A pattern of no accountability
No charges have been filed against Jonathan Ross or any other agent involved. The Department of Justice blocked a state investigation. Ten state prosecutors and one FBI agent resigned in protest. This killing did not happen in isolation. On January 24, 2026, Alex Pretti was killed. Pretti was 37 years old and worked as an ICU nurse. He was shot by Customs and Border Protection agents in the same city while observing a protest. These deaths are part of Operation Metro Surge. The operation deployed 2,000 or more federal agents between December 2025 and February 2026. More than 3,789 arrests were made. The operation disproportionately affected Somali and Hispanic communities, according to the lawsuits.
Has anyone been charged?
No federal charges have been filed against the agents involved in Good’s death. No state charges have been filed. The Department of Justice moved to block a state investigation. This prevented state prosecutors from pursuing their own cases. The prosecutors involved were so troubled by this decision that ten prosecutors and one FBI agent resigned from their positions.
The road ahead
Good’s family is pursuing justice through the courts. The lawsuits claim that the federal government violated her civil rights and caused her wrongful death. The KKK Act lawsuit goes further. It alleges a conspiracy among high-ranking officials to violate civil rights. The outcomes of these cases remain uncertain. Federal courts have been reluctant in recent years to hold government agencies accountable. The family has decided to fight anyway. They are demanding answers about why an unarmed woman was shot and killed. They are demanding accountability for the officials who called her death terrorism instead of tragedy. They are seeking justice for Renee Good. The FBI and ICE dual enforcement operations continue across the country, while Minneapolis remains at the center of the legal battle over federal immigration tactics.
