Myles Miller
A mobile-phone video recorded by the federal immigration agent who shot and killed a woman this week in Minneapolis captures the scene in the moments leading up to the shooting and immediately after.
The 47-second clip obtained by the conservative Minnesota media outlet Alpha News and confirmed as authentic by the Department of Homeland Security captures Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross circling a burgundy SUV that was blocking traffic on Wednesday afternoon.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
The driver, Renee Nicole Good, 37, can be seen with her window down as the agent approaches silently, his phone raised.
“That’s fine dude. I’m not mad at you,” Good says in the video.
The agent doesn’t respond. At the rear of the vehicle, a woman – believed to be Good’s wife, Rebecca – confronts him with her own phone, telling him the number plate “will be the same plate when you come talk to us later”.
“You wanna come at us? You wanna come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy,” she says to the agent. She appears to try to get into the SUV, but the door is locked.
Another officer can be heard yelling “Get out of the f—ing car” at Good.
Good reverses for a moment, turns her steering wheel and then drives forward. The agent filming the video shouts “whoa” and fires shots in quick succession.
A male voice can be heard saying “f—ing bitch”.
The video ends with sounds of the vehicle crashing into a parked car.
The video gives another view of the shooting that officials in Minnesota have called unjustified even as ICE and the Trump administration defend the officer’s actions.
Starkly opposed views about what happened reflect bitter divisions within the US over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts and the way they’ve been conducted. Both sides have justified their views by citing the same videos that show the encounter from different angles.
Vice President JD Vance on Friday called news coverage of the incident “shameless press propaganda”, noting that Ross – the officer who shot Good – had been seriously injured in a separate vehicle attack six months ago.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking at a New York press conference on Thursday, said the agent “followed his training” and “acted in defence of his life”, even as the shooting remains under investigation.
Good’s death has sparked protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere over aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. Civil-rights groups are demanding an independent investigation, while Minnesota officials say federal authorities initially agreed to let state investigators participate before reversing course and freezing them out.
DHS said that Ross was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.
Renee Good’s wife said on Friday that the couple had stopped to support their neighbours on the day of the shooting and described the mother of three as leaving a legacy of kindness.
“We had whistles. They had guns,” Rebecca Good said in a written statement provided to Minnesota Public Radio.
“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him.
“That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”
Rebecca thanked people across America and the world who had reached out in support.
“Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled,” Rebecca Good wrote. “I mean, she didn’t wear glitter, but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking, but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.”
Bloomberg, AP
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