New video of fatal Minnesota ICE shooting, from officer's perspective,
brings fresh scrutiny
[January 10, 2026]
By REBECCA SANTANA, TIM SULLIVAN and GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota prosecutor on Friday called on the public
to share with investigators any recordings and evidence connected to the
fatal shooting of Renee Good as a new video emerged showing the final
moments of her encounter with an immigration officer.
The Minneapolis killing and a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, a
day later by the Border Patrol have set off protests in multiple cities
and denunciations of immigration enforcement tactics by the U.S.
government. The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot
Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents.
The reaction to the shooting has largely been focused on witness
cellphone video of the encounter. A new, 47-second video that was
published online by a Minnesota-based conservative news site, Alpha
News, and later reposted on social media by the Department of Homeland
Security shows the shooting from the perspective of ICE officer Jonathan
Ross, who fired the shots.
Sirens blaring in the background, he approaches and circles Good’s
vehicle in the middle of the road while apparently filming on his
cellphone. At the same time, Good’s wife also was recording the
encounter and can be seen walking around the vehicle and approaching the
officer. A series of exchanges occurred:
“That’s fine, I’m not mad at you,” Good says as the officer passes by
her door. She has one hand on the steering wheel and the other outside
the open driver side window.
“U.S. citizen, former f---ing veteran,” says her wife, standing outside
the passenger side of the SUV holding up her phone. “You wanna come at
us, you wanna come at us, I say go get yourself some lunch big boy.”
Other officers are approaching the driver’s side of the car at about the
same time and one says: “Get out of the car, get out of the f---ing
car.” Ross is now at the front driver side of the vehicle. Good reverses
briefly, then turns the steering wheel toward the passenger side as she
drives ahead and Ross opens fire.
The camera becomes unsteady and points toward the sky and then returns
to the street view showing Good’s SUV careening away.
“F---ing b---,” someone at the scene says.
A crashing sound is heard as Good’s vehicle smashes into others parked
on the street.
Federal agencies have encouraged officers to document encounters in
which people may attempt to interfere with enforcement actions, but
policing experts have cautioned that recording on a handheld device can
complicate already volatile situations by occupying an officer’s hands
and narrowing focus at moments when rapid decision-making is required.
Under an ICE policy directive, officers and agents are expected to
activate body-worn cameras at the start of enforcement activities and to
record throughout interactions, and footage must be kept for review in
serious incidents such as deaths or use-of-force cases. The Department
of Homeland Security has not responded to questions about whether the
officer who opened fire or any of the others who were on the scene were
wearing body cameras.
Homeland Security says video shows self-defense
Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia
McLaughlin said in posts on X that the new video backs their contention
that the officer fired in self-defense.
“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a
car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance said.
“The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self
defense.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said any self-defense argument is
“garbage.”
Policing experts said the video didn’t change their thoughts on the
use-of-force but did raise additional questions about the officer’s
training.
“Now that we can see he’s holding a gun in one hand and a cellphone in
the other filming, I want to see the officer training that permits
that,” said Geoff Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of
South Carolina.
The video demonstrates that the officers didn’t perceive Good to be a
threat, said John P. Gross, a professor at the University of Wisconsin
Law School who has written extensively about officers shooting at moving
vehicles.
“If you are an officer who views this woman as a threat, you don’t have
one hand on a cellphone. You don’t walk around this supposed weapon,
casually filming,” Gross said.
Ross, 43, is an Iraq War veteran who has served in the Border Patrol and
ICE for nearly two decades. He was injured last year when he was dragged
by a driver fleeing an immigration arrest.
Attempts to reach Ross at phone numbers and email addresses associated
with him were not successful.
Prosecutor asks for video and evidence
Meanwhile, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that although her
office has collaborated effectively with the FBI in past cases, she is
concerned by the Trump administration's decision to bar state and local
agencies from playing any role in the investigation into Good's killing.
[to top of second column]
|
This image from video made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officer Jonathan Ross via Alpha News shows Renee Good in her vehicle
in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo)
She also said the officer who shot Good in the head does not have
complete legal immunity, as Vance declared.
“We do have jurisdiction to make this decision with what happened in
this case,” Moriarty said at a news conference. “It does not matter
that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”
Moriarty said her office would post a link for the public to submit
footage of the shooting, even though she acknowledged that she
wasn't sure what legal outcome submissions might produce.
Good's wife, Becca Good, released a statement to Minnesota Public
Radio on Friday saying, “kindness radiated out of her.”
"On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We
had whistles. They had guns," Becca Good said.
“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as
Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for
him,” she wrote.
The reaction to Good's shooting was immediate in the city where
police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of protesters
converging on the shooting scene and the school district canceling
classes for the rest of the week as a precaution and offering an
online option through Feb. 12.
On Friday, protesters were outside a federal facility serving as a
hub for the immigration crackdown that began Tuesday in Minneapolis
and St. Paul. That evening, hundreds protested and marched outside
two hotels in downtown Minneapolis where immigration enforcement
agents were supposed to be staying. Some people were seen breaking
or spray painting windows and state law enforcement officers wearing
helmets and holding batons ordered the remaining group of fewer than
100 people to leave late Friday.
Shooting in Portland
The Portland shooting happened outside a hospital Thursday. A
federal border officer shot and wounded a man and woman in a
vehicle, identified by the Department of Homeland Security as
Venezuela nationals Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth
Zambrano-Contreras. Police said they were in stable condition Friday
after surgery, with DHS saying Nico Moncada was taken into FBI
custody
DHS defended the actions of its officers in Portland, saying the
shooting occurred after the driver with alleged gang ties tried to
“weaponize” his vehicle to hit them. It said no officers were
injured.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed that the two people shot had
“some nexus” to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. Day said they
came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July
shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but they
were not identified as suspects.
The chief said any gang affiliation did not necessarily justify the
shooting by U.S. Border Patrol. The Oregon Department of Justice
said it would investigate.
On Friday evening, hundreds of protesters marched to the ICE
building in Portland.
The biggest crackdown yet
The Minneapolis shooting happened on the second day of the
immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, which Homeland Security
said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever. More
than 2,000 officers are taking part and Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem said they have made more than 1,500 arrests.
The government is also shifting immigration officers to Minneapolis
from sweeps in Louisiana, according to documents obtained by The
Associated Press. This represents a pivot, as the Louisiana
crackdown that began in December had been expected to last into
February.
Good's death — at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since
President Donald Trump took office — has resonated far beyond
Minneapolis. More protests are planned for this weekend, according
to Indivisible, a group formed to resist the Trump administration.
___
Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave in
Minneapolis; Ed White in Detroit; Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville,
Texas; Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma; Michael Biesecker in
Washington; Jim Mustian and Safiyah Riddle in New York; Ryan Foley
in Iowa City, Iowa; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
