Renee Good’s School Board Role Raises New Questions in ICE Shooting Investigation
Newly uncovered records show that Renee Good — the woman fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis last week — served on the board of her child’s school, which circulated materials encouraging parents to monitor ICE activity and participate in organized protest efforts.
According to documents reviewed by CNN, Southside Family Charter School linked families to guides promoting “ICE watch” initiatives and protest-related training, shedding additional light on Good’s involvement with activist networks that sought to observe and potentially interfere with federal immigration enforcement operations. Federal officials have placed those activities at the center of their ongoing review of the shooting.
Good was killed during a federal immigration enforcement operation after she partially blocked ICE agents in the street with her SUV. An ICE officer opened fire after Good began accelerating her vehicle during the confrontation.
CNN reported that four legal experts characterized the documents as advocating nonviolent civil disobedience, arguing they did not support claims made by officials in President Donald J. Trump’s administration that Good was involved in extremism or domestic terrorism.
“There’s nothing in there that suggests attacking ICE agents or engaging in any other form of physical harm or property damage,” said Timothy Zick, a professor at William and Mary Law School. “This is authoritarianism 101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death.”
Still, the materials raise concerns about coordinated efforts to obstruct lawful federal operations. One document, dated Dec. 16 and linked by the school, thanked families who had been “on ICE watch, helping to protect their neighbors.” The message directed parents to a separate training guide encouraging the use of whistles to alert neighbors of ICE activity and offering access to “noncooperation training.”
“ICE are untrained bullies looking for easy targets. Neighbors showing up have saved lives,” the training document stated.
Another guide emphasized nonviolent tactics while urging participants to refuse cooperation with ICE agents’ demands or orders. It encouraged “creative tactics,” explaining that crowds, noise, and traffic could complicate detentions and, in some cases, prevent ICE vehicles from moving. While the guide did not explicitly instruct activists to block agents with vehicles, it promoted methods that could interfere with enforcement actions.
The Dec. 16 message, labeled “School Report,” appeared on the agenda of a Southside Family Charter School board meeting attended by Good, who served as one of three parent board members. Records do not show that the board formally voted on the message, and it remains unclear whether it was broadly distributed to families. The school and other board members declined to respond to CNN’s inquiries.
Two sources familiar with the school told CNN the message resembled previous newsletters, though neither could confirm if it was actually sent to parents. The document was uploaded to the school’s public Google Drive roughly two weeks after federal authorities launched an immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area, which officials said focused on the local Somali community.
Federal prosecutors have also faced internal turmoil following the shooting. According to a person briefed on the matter, at least six federal prosecutors in Minneapolis resigned Tuesday after reportedly coming under pressure from the Trump administration to concentrate the investigation on Good and individuals connected to her.
Video footage of the shooting shows Good turning her SUV away from the ICE agent as she accelerated, though it remains unclear whether the vehicle made contact before the officer fired. Federal officials have stated, without publicly releasing evidence, that Good had been stalking agents and engaging in behavior they described as domestic terrorism throughout the day — claims that some state and local lawmakers have dismissed as inflammatory.
Good’s family disputes that narrative. They say she and her wife were returning home after dropping off their son at Southside Family Charter School, located about a mile and a half from where the shooting occurred.
In a statement, Good’s wife, Becca Good, said the couple had “stopped to support our neighbors,” adding, “We had whistles. They had guns.”