A person walks past signage in memory of Renee Good on Sunday, Jan. 11 in Minneapolis. Good, a queer mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE officer there on Jan. 7. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Federal prosecutors quit after Minneapolis ICE shooting and investigation of victim’s widow
CAROLINE SAVOIE | East Texas Staff Writer
carosavo@storydustsearch.com
After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis shot and killed a 37-year-old queer mother, a widening political and legal crisis is underway around the country, prompting resignations among federal prosecutors and renewed scrutiny of how the Trump administration treats LGBTQ+ families caught in law enforcement encounters.
Renee Nicole Good, a married lesbian and mother of three, was shot and killed Jan. 7 during a traffic stop in a residential neighborhood.
Multiple videos circulating online show Good seated in her car when ICE agent Jonathan Ross fired three shots into her face, then walking away and leaving the scene.
Her wife, 40-year-old Rebecca “Becca” Good, witnessed the fatal shooting.
President Donald Trump referred to Becca Good publicly as Renee Good’s “friend,” rather than her wife, and accused both women of being “highly disrespectful of law enforcement,” drawing criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates who said the remarks erased the couple’s marriage and fueled misinformation about the killing.
Federal officials have not charged Ross, who fled the scene shortly after the shooting, leaving Good’s vehicle to roll down the street with her body behind the wheel. Minnesota authorities say the incident remains under investigation.
The Trump administration has characterized Good as a “domestic terrorist” and “professional agitator,” alleging she attempted to run over Ross. This claim is contradicted by video evidence reviewed by Dallas Voice and other news outlets.
Prosecutors resign amid dispute
The fallout intensified this week as at least six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned after the Justice Department allegedly ordered them to investigate Becca Good rather than the shooter.
Among those who stepped down was Joseph Thompson, the second-ranking official in Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office, according to The New York Times. Thompson reportedly objected to a proposed criminal investigation of Good’s widow and to the department’s reluctance to investigate Ross.
Three other career prosecutors, Harry Jacobs, Melinda Williams and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez, also resigned, along with additional staff members who declined public comment.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that a majority of the office’s leadership resigned Tuesday, Jan. 13, citing directives from Washington following the shooting.
State officials said Thompson had been slated to help investigate the killing alongside the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, but the Justice Department later excluded state authorities and assigned the probe solely to the FBI, a move Thompson opposed.
“We really need professional prosecutors,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans told the Times. “We’re losing a true public servant.”
Additional resignations occurred within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division after officials said there would be no civil rights investigation into the shooting. Former Civil Rights Division head Kristen Clarke called the decision a departure from decades of precedent.
“Investigating officials who may have resorted to deadly force without basis is one of the division’s most solemn duties,” Clarke said.
Competing narratives and fundraisers
As scrutiny over the killing grew, two GoFundMe campaigns emerged: one for Good’s surviving family and another for the officer who shot her.
Clyde Emmons created the fundraiser for Ross, and it had raised nearly $500,000 as of Monday evening, Jan. 12. Emmons described Good as a “domestic terrorist” and said Ross was “1,000 percent justified” in killing her.
GoFundMe said its Trust and Safety team is reviewing campaigns connected to the shooting to determine whether they violate policies prohibiting fundraising for the legal defense of people charged with violent crimes. Again, authorities have not charged or arrested Ross.
A separate fundraiser for Becca Good and the couple’s child has raised more than $1.5 million. The Good family has ended that fundraiser, asking that anyone still wishing to donate do so by donating to help other families affected by ICE raids and arrests.
According to LGBTQNation, Ross is a self-described Christian and MAGA supporter married to an immigrant Filipina woman. Video footage reviewed by Dallas Voice — footage filmed by Ross himself who was videoing with his cell phone in his left hand as he shot Good with a gun in his right hand — shows him calling Good a “fucking bitch” moments after shooting her.
A family seeking safety
Friends and relatives described Renee Good as a devoted parent who prioritized stability and safety for her family, especially after years of loss.
In 2023, Good’s second husband, Timmy Macklin, a military veteran who struggled with PTSD, died at 36. The couple had a son together. Macklin’s brother, Joseph Macklin, said Good worked hard to keep the child connected to his Tennessee relatives.
“She was so kindhearted,” he said. “She always brought him to see us.”
After Macklin’s death, Good met Becca Good. The two married and operated a small household repair business together, B. Good Handywork LLC, incorporated in Missouri in 2024.
Neighbors in Kansas City described the couple as private and attentive parents. After Trump’s reelection in 2024, they decided to leave Missouri, a state they viewed as increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ families, and relocated to Minneapolis in March 2025.
“Like people have done across place and time, we moved to make a better life for ourselves,” Becca Good said in a statement after her wife’s death. “We chose Minnesota to make our home.”
“What we found when we got here was a vibrant and welcoming community,” she said. “We made friends and spread joy.”
But instead of being free to enjoy the liberties sold as The American Dream, Good’s family has now become the center of a national battle over immigration enforcement, First Amendment rights and the treatment of residents and queer families. War cries from all sides are reverberating through Trump’s Justice Department, Minneapolis and beyond.
