A private autopsy has concluded that Renee Good, the unarmed US citizen and mother killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis this month, was shot three times – in her left forearm, right breast and head. The findings, released late on Wednesday by lawyers representing Good's family, confirm that two of the wounds were not immediately life-threatening, while the third, to the head, proved fatal.
The preliminary postmortem, conducted by an independent pathologist, found that a shot through the right breast missed major organs. A fourth injury, described as a graze wound consistent with a firearm injury but without penetration, was also noted. The family's attorneys, Romanucci and Blandin, declined to release the full report, stating they would continue gathering evidence as part of a civil investigation.
Good, 37, was acting as a legal observer of a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Minneapolis on 7 January. The incident has inflamed tensions between the Trump administration and local officials. The White House and Department of Homeland Security have repeatedly claimed that Good was a 'domestic terrorist' who aimed her car at the ICE agent, forcing him to fire in self-defence.
However, multiple video clips appear to show Good steering away from the agent as she tried to drive away, with at least two shots fired from the side of the vehicle. State officials have expressed anger at being excluded from an FBI inquiry, and federal authorities are instead investigating Good's widow and Democratic leaders, including Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, rather than the officer who killed Good, Jonathan Ross.
The US Justice Department has stated that available video evidence 'cleared' Ross and that no criminal investigation is taking place. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News that the department does not investigate 'because some governor thinks that we should'. The lack of a criminal inquiry has led a wave of federal prosecutors to resign in protest.
On Thursday, Vice-President JD Vance is expected in Minneapolis to defend President Donald Trump's decision to deploy 3,000 federal law enforcement officers to the area, a move that has sparked further controversy amid ongoing protests and arrests of US citizens and children during immigration enforcement.
