The family of Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old American mother of three shot dead by an ICE officer in Minneapolis in January, filed two federal lawsuits on Thursday in the Renee Good lawsuit — one against the United States government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and one naming the ICE officer who fired the shots alongside senior Trump administration officials. The filings, brought by her partner Rebecca “Becca” Good and her brother Brent Ganger, allege wrongful death and a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Minnesotans during the federal deportation sweeps dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.”
FAKTA: The Renee Good lawsuits at a glance
- Filed: Thursday, October 1, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Minnesota
- Plaintiffs: Rebecca “Becca” Good (partner) and Brent Ganger (brother)
- The victim: Renee Nicole Good, 37, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, shot January 7, 2026
- Suit 1: Against the United States (Federal Tort Claims Act) — battery, assault, false imprisonment, emotional distress, negligence; seeks a bench trial
- Suit 2: Civil-rights conspiracy — names ICE officer Jonathan Ross, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Todd Lyons, Gregory Bovino and Corey Lewandowski, plus 10 “John Doe” agents; seeks a jury trial
- No criminal charges have been filed against the officer or any agent involved
The Renee Good lawsuit: two legal tracks
The first lawsuit targets the United States itself under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful death under Minnesota law based on claims of battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. According to the filing, ICE deportation officer Jonathan Ross fired three shots into Good’s Honda Pilot on January 7 as she drove away from agents, with one bullet striking the 37-year-old in the left temple. The complaint says Ross moved out of the SUV’s path before leaning toward it, drawing his gun and firing — and stresses that Good was not the target of any investigation, had no criminal history, and had committed no act of violence. Becca Good also seeks damages for her own emotional distress; this suit requests a bench trial.
The second lawsuit goes further, alleging a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and demanding a jury trial. It names Ross directly, along with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan, former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and political operative Corey Lewandowski, with ten additional federal agents listed as “John Doe” defendants.
| Suit | Defendants | Core claims | Trial sought |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suit 1 — wrongful death | The United States of America | Battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence; Fourth Amendment and DHS-policy violations | Bench trial |
| Suit 2 — civil-rights conspiracy | Jonathan Ross, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Todd Lyons, Gregory Bovino, Corey Lewandowski, 10 “John Doe” agents | Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights during Operation Metro Surge, targeting Somali and Hispanic Minnesotans and intimidating witnesses | Jury trial |
The January 7 shooting
Good was shot in the driver’s seat of her car on January 7, after multiple federal agents confronted her during the Trump administration’s massive Minneapolis immigration operation, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” Her partner had stepped out of the SUV to record agents with her cellphone and was standing nearby when the shots were fired, the complaint says. Video of the shooting captured by bystanders spread rapidly and intensified scrutiny of the operation.
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Protests against the federal immigration sweeps filled Minneapolis streets in the days after Renee Good was killed in January — foto: Watan News
Days after Good’s death, an ICE agent shot and wounded Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan delivery driver, and two weeks later immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old American nurse working for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — making Good one of two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis that January.
Contrasting accounts
Administration officials immediately defended the shooting. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Good had “violently, willfully, and viciously” run over the ICE officer, who had fired in self-defense. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called her actions “domestic terrorism,” saying a woman had attacked agents and attempted to run them over. But witness video from the scene appears to contradict that account, showing Good turning to avoid agents as she tried to drive away.
Weeks after the shooting, Trump referred to the death as a tragedy and acknowledged that agents sometimes “make a mistake.” Trump ended the Minnesota surge in February, though he has maintained that his immigration policies are needed for the safety of native-born Americans. The Justice Department stopped its federal prosecutors in Minneapolis from investigating the agents involved in Good’s killing, prompting at least half a dozen of those prosecutors to resign in protest, according to Reuters. None of the agents involved has yet faced any charges.
“Our entire universe was destroyed”
At a news conference announcing the lawsuits, Becca Good spoke publicly about the killing: “I’m here today because last January the whole world had to watch as our entire universe was destroyed,” she said, as reported by the Associated Press. Her brother Ganger said there had been no accountability since his sister’s death: “What happened to Rene was completely senseless. And the fact that there’s been no accountability, no investigation, no expression of condolence, no change in policy is completely mind blowing.”
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The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota — the first major civil actions against the Trump administration over the Minneapolis sweeps — foto: Watan News
“Our government has become a grave and mortal threat to its own citizens,” the family’s lawyer, Antonio Romanucci of Romanucci & Blandin, said at the news conference. The lawsuits are among the first major civil actions taken against the administration over the unprecedented deportation sweeps in Minneapolis last winter.
Conclusion
The two lawsuits filed by Renee Good’s family represent the first major civil challenge to the Trump administration’s Minneapolis immigration operation, pitting a mother-of-three’s killing against the machinery of the deportation sweeps. With one suit seeking a bench trial and the other a jury trial against some of the most senior names in immigration enforcement, the cases are expected to scrutinize not only the three shots fired on January 7 but the policy — and the disputed official narrative — behind them. Continuing coverage of this case is available in the full report on watannews.dk.
