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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Renee Good's Family Files Federal Lawsuits Over Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (October 2, 2026). The family of Renee Good has filed two federal lawsuits over her fatal shooting by an immigration officer in Minneapolis in January, opening a new legal phase in a case that became one of the most closely watched episodes of the federal immigration-enforcement surge in Minnesota.
The family alleges excessive force, wrongful death and civil-rights violations stemming from the January shooting; federal officials had maintained that the ICE officer acted in self-defense.
Good's partner, Becca Good, and her brother, Brent Ganger, announced the litigation Thursday.
One lawsuit names the federal government and seeks damages connected to Good's death. A second named Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross and several federal officials and alleges civil-rights violations and conspiracy connected to Operation Metro Surge.
The lawsuits contain allegations that have not been adjudicated.
Good, 37 and a mother of three, was shot January 7 while federal immigration officers were conducting an enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Video examined by the Associated Press showed Good seated in an SUV as officers approached the vehicle. She briefly reversed and then began turning the vehicle as an officer drew his weapon and fired through the windshield and driver's-side area.
Federal officials said following the shooting that the officer acted in self-defense. The lawsuits dispute that account and allege that the use of deadly force was unjustified.
The litigation also reaches beyond the actions of the officer who fired the shots.
The second lawsuit names federal officials including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan and alleges that Good's death occurred within a broader enforcement operation that violated constitutional rights.
Those claims remain allegations, and the defendants will have opportunities to challenge them in court.
Attorneys for Good's family acknowledged that the litigation faces significant legal obstacles. Rachel Moran, a University of St. Thomas law professor interviewed by the Associated Press, described the cases as potentially difficult but said litigation could also produce additional information about how the federal operation was planned and directed.
The shooting of Good, followed weeks later by the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti during another federal immigration-enforcement encounter in Minneapolis, intensified scrutiny of federal operations in Minnesota and generated protests and litigation.
The newly filed cases now move that dispute into federal court, where questions about force, individual liability, government immunity and the conduct of senior officials are expected to be contested.
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