ICE Agent Involved In Minn. Shooting Unlikely To Face Charges: Report

Federal investigators are increasingly signaling that criminal charges are unlikely against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good during a Minneapolis enforcement operation last week, according to officials familiar with the investigation.

The Department of Justice is also not expected to open a civil rights probe into the shooting. The FBI is leading the investigation into the Jan. 7 encounter, in which Good, 37, was shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during an operation in south Minneapolis.

According to officials, investigators are increasingly viewing the use of force as legally justified, making criminal charges improbable, though the inquiry remains ongoing and no final determination has yet been announced. The New York Times reported the assessment, citing unnamed sources.

Federal authorities have stated that the shooting occurred after Good drove her vehicle toward agents as they attempted to carry out a lawful enforcement action. Other accounts—including statements from witnesses and local activists—have sought to cast doubt on those conclusions, though investigators appear to be weighing physical evidence and officer accounts heavily.

Good’s death sparked protests across Minneapolis and drew sharp criticism from Democratic local and state officials demanding transparency and accountability. Demonstrations continued for days, with activists calling for an independent investigation and the release of additional footage and records.

However, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has declined to open a separate inquiry into whether Good’s civil rights were violated, according to officials. That decision triggered internal backlash within the department, culminating in a wave of resignations by prosecutors who reportedly wanted to pursue a civil rights case regardless of the evidence.

The dissenting lawyers had allegedly pushed Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to dispatch a DOJ team to Minneapolis to manufacture a civil rights case tied to the shooting.

“Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were told they will not play a role in the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer, according to two sources familiar with the matter,” CBS News reported.

After being told “no,” a group of “top leaders” in the division’s criminal section “have left their jobs to register their frustration with the department.”

“The departures – including that of the chief of the section, as well as the principal deputy chief, deputy chief and acting deputy chief – represent the most significant mass resignation at the Justice Department since February,” the report added.

Dhillon, who assumed her role last year, has been explicit about ending the politically driven investigations that proliferated under the Biden administration and restoring a law-and-order approach under President Donald J. Trump’s second term.

“We don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police department based on statistical evidence or persecute people praying outside abortion facilities instead of doing violence,” Dhillon said.

She added, “The job here is to enforce the federal civil rights laws — not woke ideology.”

While local authorities are conducting their own review, any criminal charging decision involving a federal agent would fall squarely under federal jurisdiction. Officials cautioned that findings could still evolve as investigators complete their review of body-camera footage, forensic evidence, and witness statements.

Friends of Good have described her as an anti-ICE activist who became involved through her 6-year-old son’s charter school and its local “ICE Watch” group. They said she participated in efforts to document and resist federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

“She was a warrior. She died doing what was right,” a mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same school, told The Post at a vigil held near the site of the shooting.

Neighbors also reported that Good regularly attended meetings with the local chapter and had received extensive training from the activist group—details investigators are expected to scrutinize as they determine whether the shooting meets the legal standard for self-defense.