ICE Agent Shoots and Kills Mother of Three in Minneapolis, FBI Blocks State Investigation
Ive covered wars. Ive been shot at in Fallujah. Ive seen things that still wake me up at night. But I dont think Ive ever seen anything quite like what happened in Minneapolis on Tuesday morning.
At 9:37 AM on January 7th, 2026, an ICE agent named Jonathan Ross fired three shots into a Honda Pilot on a residential street in south Minneapolis. The driver was Renee Nicole Good, 37 years old. A US citizen. A mother of three. A poet and writer.
She had just dropped her 6-year-old son off at school.
The whole thing was captured on video. And the video doesnt show what the feds are claiming.
What the Video Actually Shows
Lets be very precise here, because precision matters when federal agents are killing citizens on American streets.
The video shows Goods Honda Pilot stopped perpendicularly in the street. Masked ICE agents approached the vehicle, screaming “Get out of the f—ing car.” Good spoke to the agents for approximately one minute. Then she attempted to drive away.
Agent Ross fired three shots. The first came at 9:37:13 AM. The second came 399 milliseconds later. The third came 299 milliseconds after that.
Heres the thing that matters: The New York Times conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of the video. One second before the first shot, Good was turning her steering wheel to the RIGHT. Away from the agent.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claims Good tried to “run over” the agent. The video says otherwise.
Minneapolis Explodes
I was in Minneapolis on Friday when thousands of people took to the streets. The anger was palpable. This was different from most protests Ive covered – there was a rawness to it, a sense that something fundamental had broken.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey didnt mince words. “That is bullshit,” he said of the federal narrative. He told ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” Im not used to hearing mayors talk like that about federal agencies. Then again, Im not used to federal agencies shooting mothers in the street.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz proclaimed January 9th “Renee Good Day.” Think about that for a second. A sitting governor creating a state holiday for someone killed by federal agents. Thats where we are now.
The death occurred one mile from where George Floyd was murdered. One mile. The same city. The same pattern of official violence followed by community outrage. The same questions about who polices the police.
The Cover-Up
And then comes the part that makes my blood boil.
On January 8th – one day after the shooting – the FBI revoked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions access to evidence. The state investigators who are supposed to investigate this shooting can no longer access the evidence.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says the FBI is blocking the state investigation. Let that sink in. The feds shot someone, and now theyre preventing the state from investigating.
Also on the day after the shooting, DHS changed its policy to require Congress to schedule ICE facility visits 7 days in advance. Congressional oversight just got a lot harder. Coincidence? You tell me.
According to Washington Post reporting, this is the ninth time ICE agents have opened fire on people since September 2025. Four other people have been killed during federal deportation operations. This isnt an isolated incident. This is a pattern.
The Details That Haunt Me
Renee Good was originally from Colorado Springs. She graduated from Old Dominion University in 2020 with an English degree. Her previous husband, Timmy Ray Macklin Jr., died in 2023. She was a poet. A writer. A mother.
Her wife was in the car with her. According to reports, she urged Renee to drive away a split second before the gunfire.
Heres something that hasnt gotten enough attention: the ICE agent was filming on his cellphone while holding his gun. Policing experts are questioning how you can safely assess a threat while also operating a phone camera. You cant. Thats how.
An online fundraiser has raised $1.5 million for a family trust fund. Minneapolis Public Schools cancelled in-person classes and offered remote learning through February 12th. Thirty people were arrested Friday night after property damage in downtown Minneapolis.
The Bigger Picture
DHS deployed 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis area on January 6th – the day before the shooting. Senator Amy Klobuchar pointed out that theres now more ICE officers in Minnesota than Minneapolis and St. Paul police combined.
Vice President JD Vance claimed the agent is “protected by absolute immunity.” Im old enough to remember when conservatives were skeptical of federal power. Im old enough to remember when shooting unarmed mothers on the street was considered bad, regardless of who did it.
Look, Ive been doing this for decades. Ive covered conflicts where the rules of engagement were clearer than what were seeing here. In war zones I’ve reported from, there are at least nominal accountability structures.
What we have in Minneapolis right now? A dead mother. Video evidence that contradicts the official story. A federal agency blocking the state investigation. And 2,000 agents occupying an American city.
Ive seen occupations before. I just never expected to see one in Minnesota.
Ray Caldwell has covered international conflicts for over two decades. He is a former embedded journalist with US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
