“Our government has become a grave and mortal threat to its own citizens,” said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney representing the family.
The family of Renee Good has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, saying “the time is absolutely now for accountability.”
According to The Associated Press, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Good’s partner, Becca Good, and her brother Brent Ganger. In court documents, the two accuse the Trump administration and defendant Jonathon Ross—the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who shot Good dead in Minneapolis—of unjustified and excessive force.
The January 7 shooting, which was caught on tape by a bystander, was “the predictable and intended product” of the administration’s crackdown on Minneapolis’s immigrant community.
“She was the love of my life,” Becca Good said at a press conference. “I’m here today because last January, the whole word had to watch as our entire universe was destroyed—as the sunshine who was my amazing Renee was robbed from us, from her children, and from her community.”
Good was one of two U.S. citizens who were shot and killed by ICE while documenting immigration-enforcement operations. In total, at least 10 people nationwide have been killed in encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Trump’s second term began.
“What happened to Renee was completely senseless,” Ganger said in a statement. “And the fact that there’s been no accountability, no investigation, no expression of condolence, no change in policy is completely mind-blowing.”
The Associated Press notes that Good and Ganger have filed two separate lawsuits lawsuits: one against the government, and another that names Ross and several Trump administration officials as defendants. The family is seeking unspecified damages for wrongful death, conspiracy, and other civil charges.
“Our government has become a grave and mortal threat to its own citizens,” said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney representing the family.
Good was killed while driving with Becca on a street where ICE agents were conducting an immigration-enforcement operation. They had just dropped their young son off at school when Renee stopped her car in the street and honked her horn to warn others about the possibility of immigration raids. Bystander video shows Renee in the driver’s seat, honking her horn, as she’s approached her two agents wearing masks. One of the men ordered Good to get out of the vehicle; she reversed briefly, turning the wheel.
Moments later, as Becca encouraged her partner to “Drive, baby, drive!”, Ross unholstered his weapon and fired in the windshield. He fired at least two more times, fatally striking Good. The Trump administration later described the incident as an act of “self-defense,” characterizing Good’s low-speed attempt at evasion as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
“I don’t hate the people that took Renee from us,” Becca Good said in a statement. “But what I want them to understand: Every single day they get to look at their children and their wives and their sisters and know what they took from our family. They took a mother away from her children. They know that. And they will carry it forever.”
Sources
Family of Renee Good sues US government and Trump officials over her death
Renee Good’s family sues US government and immigration officials over her killing in Minneapolis
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