1 of 3 | Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (C) calls for federal officials to allow state agencies to investigate the ICE killing of Renee Good during a news conference Friday at Minneapolis City Hall. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office/Facebook
Barriers went up around Minneapolis’ Whipple Federal Building on Friday and came down at the site where a woman was fatally shot by an immigration officer earlier in the week.
WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reported that crews set up concrete barriers outside the federal building before dawn as demonstrators gathered to protest Wednesday’s shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross. A crowd gathered outside the building Thursday, as well, and was met by a line of federal law enforcement surrounding the building.
City officials, meanwhile, announced Friday plans to remove barriers blocking the streets near where Good was shot. The city said it was doing so to open routes in case of medical or fire emergencies in the area.
The shooting took place on Portland Avenue near East 34th Street as protesters allegedly tried to block a convoy of ICE vehicles traveling down Portland Avenue. Videos from the scene appeared to show Good’s SUV blocking part of the street.
ICE accused Good of attempting to use her SUV to run over Ross, who fired two shots at her, one of which struck her in the head and killed her. The agency said she used her vehicle as a weapon to carry out an act of terrorism.
Local officials have called into question the narrative that Good was carrying out an act of terrorism. They believe Good had been attempting to drive away from the scene as an ICE agent reached into her vehicle and tried to open the door, and Ross stepped around from the front of the SUV.
City officials said that though they’re removing barriers blocking the streets, they will leave a memorial to Good in place at the spot of her death, ABC News reported.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey renewed his calls Friday for the Justice Department to open the investigation into the shooting to state officials. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office chose to push the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension out of the probe and put the FBI solely in charge.
City and state officials, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, expressed concern that a federal-only investigation would not be fair. Frey said he believes the Trump administration has “already come to a conclusion” about what happened.
“We got nothing to hide from here — all we want in Minneapolis is justice and the truth,” Frey said.
Minnesota’s legislature set up the BCA’s Force Investigations Unit in 2020 to look into police use of force after the death of George Floyd.
“One of the things that we learned is that if you actually are interested in public safety, if you actually are interested in the legitimacy of a law enforcement force in your community, then you must be invested in accountability, in transparency and in fair investigations when bad things happen,” state Rep. Aisha Gomez said at the Friday news conference with Frey.
“We call on the FBI to share the evidence with the Force Investigations Unit at the BCA and have this be a legitimate and trusted investigation.
