Killing of Renée Good

Renée Nicole Macklin Good, known as Renée Good, was a 37 year old American writer and poet who was fatally shot by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was not a public figure before her death; she became known internationally because of the circumstances of her killing, which occurred during a large scale federal immigration enforcement operation called Operation Metro Surge. Good was stopped in her Honda Pilot SUV on Portland Avenue, a few blocks from her home, when ICE agent Jonathan Ross and several colleagues approached her vehicle. As agents gave conflicting orders for her to leave the car and to get out of it, Good reversed briefly and then drove forward and to the right, away from Ross and into the lane of oncoming traffic permitted on the one way street. Ross fired three shots into the moving vehicle in under a second, striking her twice in the chest, once in the forearm and once in the head.

Good died a short time later at Hennepin County Medical Center after being pulled from her crashed SUV and given emergency aid. Her death immediately became a national story because it was captured on multiple cell phone and body camera videos that were analyzed in detail by news organizations, and because federal officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump, said Ross had acted in self defense after being run over, an account that was disputed by independent video analysis from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, BBC News and Bellingcat, none of which found clear evidence that Good's vehicle struck Ross before he opened fire.

The killing mattered far beyond Minneapolis because it crystallized a national argument over the Trump administration's expanded immigration enforcement, which had already produced a sharp rise in violent confrontations between ICE agents and the public. It triggered protests in Minneapolis and in cities across the country, prompted the closure of Minneapolis Public Schools, led Minnesota's governor to put the National Guard on alert, and set off a wave of resignations among federal prosecutors who objected to the Justice Department's refusal to investigate Ross while instead pursuing Good's widow and local elected officials. Minnesota's attorney general and the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul later sued federal agencies over access to evidence.

Good was remembered by family and friends as a mother, partner and writer rather than as an activist. Her ex husband and mother said she had not previously taken part in protests against ICE. She was survived by her partner Becca, three children from her two marriages, and other family members who asked that her death be used to promote peace rather than political division. As of October 2026, Jonathan Ross has not been criminally charged in connection with her death, and the investigations into the shooting and the broader handling of evidence remain unresolved.