The US Department of Justice is not investigating the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis on 7 January, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed on Sunday. This contrasts sharply with the 2020 criminal investigation launched into the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, which led to federal convictions of four officers.
Blanche, a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, dismissed the need for a federal probe during a Fox News interview, stating that the publicly available video evidence cleared the agent, Jonathan Ross. “We don’t just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody putting his life in danger,” Blanche said, adding that the department would not “bow to pressure from the media” or politicians.
The killing of Good occurred less than a mile from where Floyd was murdered in May 2020 and was recorded on at least five phones, including one held by Ross. Forensic analysis by the New York Times and Bellingcat has contradicted Trump’s claim that Good “ran over” the agent, showing she was shot at point-blank range as she drove past him.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also defended the lack of an investigation, telling CBS that a standard internal review by ICE would suffice. However, critics note that in 2020, the Trump administration announced a robust criminal investigation into Floyd’s death within three days, with then-attorney general William Barr calling the video “harrowing and deeply disturbing.”
Witnesses to Good’s shooting, including one who recorded video, said federal officers prevented a physician from treating her and blocked ambulances. The Justice Department’s civil rights division previously investigated and secured convictions in the Floyd case, including for “deliberate indifference” to medical needs.
