Renee Good’s family is accusing federal immigration officers of killing the Minneapolis mother of three as she attempted to follow agents’ instructions, and said Wednesday they have hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family to press for answers and accountability.
Her loved ones said in a statement they want Good, 37, remembered as “an agent of peace” and urged the public not to use her death as a political flashpoint, according to the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin. The firm said it is investigating Good’s death and will release information in the coming weeks.
The family’s decision to hire the firm came the same week the U.S. Justice Department said it sees no basis to open a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. An FBI probe of Renee Good’s death is ongoing.
Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week, and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defense while standing in front of Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward. That explanation has been panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
Romanucci & Blandin said the family wants answers about the federal officers were doing on Jan. 7 in the neighborhood where Good was killed, as well as officers’ actions during the encounter and delays in medical aid after the shooting. The ICE agent who fired is Jonathan Ross, an Iraq War veteran who has served as a deportation officer since 2015.
Good’s partner, Becca Good, and other relatives say on Jan. 7 the couple had just dropped off their 6-year-old child at school and stopped to observe the law enforcement activity. Video shows a red SUV driven by Renee sitting perpendicular and blocking part of the road. She is pressing the horn repeatedly.
A short time later, a truck carrying immigration officers pulls up, two get out and one of them orders Renee Good to open her door. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel toward the passenger side as the officer says again, “get out of the car.” Almost simultaneously, Becca, standing on the passenger side and trying to open the door, shouts, “drive, baby, drive!”
The SUV pulls forward and gunshots are heard as an officer who in front of the vehicle opens fire.
“What happened to Renee is wrong,” the firm said, adding that they intend to share their findings “on a rolling basis” because they believe the community is not receiving adequate information elsewhere. The firm, which helped secure a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family, is now representing Becca Good as well as Renee Good’s parents and siblings.
Becca Good released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying the couple had stopped to support their neighbors: “ We had whistles. They had guns.” Becca Good and her family have not responded to calls and messages from The Associated Press.
Becca Good has referred to Renee as her wife. The law firm said Renee and Becca were “not legally married but were committed partners dedicated to their family.”
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