The US Justice Department has confirmed it will not open a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis, marking a stark departure from its swift response to the police killing of George Floyd in the same city six years ago.
A Stark Contrast in Federal Response
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated on Sunday that the department is "not investigating" the 7 January shooting of Renee Good. The incident occurred less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered in May 2020. Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Donald Trump, dismissed the need for a probe during a Fox News interview, suggesting publicly available video evidence cleared the agent, Jonathan Ross.
"The department of justice, our civil rights unit, we don't just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself," Blanche said. He emphasised the department would not "bow to pressure from the media" or politicians.
This stance directly contrasts with the actions of the previous Trump administration. In 2020, just three days after George Floyd's death, the US attorney in Minnesota and the FBI announced a "robust criminal investigation" in coordination with the civil rights division. That probe led to the 2022 convictions of four Minneapolis police officers on federal civil rights charges.
Disputed Narrative and Internal Reviews
The killing of Good was recorded on at least five phones, including one held by the agent who shot her. Despite claims from Trump and Homeland Security head Kristi Noem that Good "ran over" the officer, forensic analysis by outlets including the New York Times and Bellingcat has disputed this.
Noem insisted a standard internal agency review was sufficient, telling CBS that "everybody can watch the videos" to see the agent was attacked. Meanwhile, witnesses claim federal officers prevented a man identifying as a physician from treating Good and blocked arriving ambulances.
Since Trump's return to office, the traditional independence of the Justice Department has been challenged, with partisan appointments and directives to investigate political enemies. Harmeet Dhillon, now head of the civil rights division, shared Trump's false claim about the incident on social media platform X.
Focus Shifts to Protesters, Not the Shooting
Following the decision not to investigate the shooting, a wave of federal prosecutors in Minnesota and Washington DC resigned in protest. Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel subsequently visited Minneapolis, not to review the shooting, but to meet with prosecutors and immigration officers.
Amid reports the department is investigating Good's widow for allegedly impeding the ICE agent, Blanche promised to "prosecute anyone attacking or obstructing" ICE officers. Patel posted that the FBI was "cracking down on violent rioters" in the city—a term often used by Trump officials to describe peaceful protesters in Minneapolis.
The divergent federal response to two high-profile, video-recorded deaths in the same city underscores a significant shift in approach under the current administration, prioritising the defence of federal agents over independent scrutiny of their use of lethal force.
