By Jonathan Allen
Oct 1 (Reuters) – The family of Renee Good, one of two US citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January, sued US President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday over her killing during deportation sweeps.
Good, 37, was shot dead in her car by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 7, when she and her wife joined one of the city’s daily protests against masked and armed federal agents deployed to Minnesota to arrest migrants for deportation.
The two lawsuits say Trump administration officials were negligent and violated the civil rights of Good and others in Minneapolis, demanding a jury trial and damages. They are among the first major civil actions taken against Trump for his unprecedented deportation sweeps in Minneapolis last winter, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
Good’s killing intensified the backlash in Minnesota and beyond against the sweeps, involving thousands of immigration agents deployed to street patrols in Minnesota. Trump ended the Minnesota surge in February, but says his anti-immigration policies are needed for the safety of native-born Americans.
Days after Good’s death, an ICE agent shot and wounded Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan delivery driver, in the leg, and two weeks later immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, an American nurse working for the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Senior Trump administration officials initially branded Good a “domestic terrorist” and the US Department of Justice stopped its federal prosecutors in Minneapolis from investigating the agents involved in her killing, prompting at least half a dozen of those prosecutors to resign in protest. None of the agents involved has yet faced any charges.
Good’s killing was captured on widely viewed videos that showed the ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, approaching Good in her car, which was parked to partly block the road. Ross circled her car on foot, recording on his cellphone.
In her last words, Good can be seen on video saying to Ross: “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you.”
Moments later, another ICE agent approached the car and told Good to get out. She can be seen reversing briefly, then putting the car into forward gear and turning the steering wheel to her right, apparently trying to drive away.
As the car moves forward, Ross, who at that point had returned to the front left of her car, shouts “Whoa!” and shoots into the car, hitting Good three times: in the head, in her arm and in her torso.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the chief elected prosecutor in Minneapolis, is investigating the agents who killed Good and Pretti for possible violations of Minnesota law. The investigations have been slowed because the Justice Department withdrew its usual cooperation and evidence-sharing with local law enforcement agencies. Minnesota has sued the Trump administration to gain access to the evidence it gathered at the shooting scenes.
Ross has not publicly discussed Good’s death or his actions that day, and he could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and related agencies, has defended the conduct of Ross and other immigration officers as justified uses of force in dangerous situations.
Good’s wife, Becca Good, and other relatives are due to speak to reporters about their lawsuits later on Thursday morning.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Ed Klamann)
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