New ICE officer video raises use-of-force questions in Minneapolis shooting

The video, first published by Minnesota outlet Alpha News and later reposted by the Department of Homeland Security, emerged as the Trump administration defended the officer on self-defense grounds, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey rejected that argument as “garbage,” and protests spread across multiple cities following Good’s death and a separate federal shooting in Portland, Oregon.

A 47-second video recorded from the perspective of ICE officer Jonathan Ross emerged Friday, showing his approach to Renee Good’s vehicle in the moments before he shot and killed her during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis — and prompting Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty to call on the public to submit any recordings and evidence to investigators.

The footage, first published by Minnesota outlet Alpha News and later reposted by the Department of Homeland Security, showed Ross holding both a firearm and a cellphone simultaneously as he circled Good’s SUV. Policing experts said the video did not change their assessment of the use of force but raised immediate questions about the officer’s training and situational awareness.

“Now that we can see he’s holding a gun in one hand and a cellphone in the other filming, I want to see the officer training that permits that,” said Geoff Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina.

Competing interpretations of the footage

Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in posts on X that the new video supported their claim that Ross fired in self-defense.

“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance said. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said any self-defense argument is “garbage.”

John P. Gross, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has written extensively about officers shooting at moving vehicles, said the footage demonstrated that the officers did not regard Good as a threat.

“If you are an officer who views this woman as a threat, you don’t have one hand on a cellphone. You don’t walk around this supposed weapon, casually filming,” Gross said.

Jurisdiction and immunity

Moriarty said at a news conference Friday that her office has jurisdiction in the case, rejecting the assertion that the officer holds complete legal immunity.

“We do have jurisdiction to make this decision with what happened in this case,” Moriarty said. “It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”

Moriarty also said she is concerned by the Trump administration’s decision to bar state and local agencies from any role in the investigation, noting that her office has collaborated effectively with the FBI in past cases. She said her office would post a link for the public to submit footage, while acknowledging uncertainty about what legal outcome submissions might produce.

Under an ICE policy directive, officers are expected to activate body-worn cameras at the start of enforcement activities and to retain footage in deaths or use-of-force cases. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to questions about whether Ross or other officers on the scene were wearing body cameras, according to the Associated Press.

Family statement

Good’s wife, Becca Good, released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday.

“On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” Becca Good said.

“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him,” she wrote.

A second federal shooting, in Portland

The Minneapolis shooting was one of two federal law enforcement shootings within two days. A Border Patrol officer shot and wounded two people outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security identified them as Venezuelan nationals Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, and said both were in stable condition after surgery. DHS said Nico Moncada was subsequently taken into FBI custody.

DHS said the shooting occurred after the driver tried to “weaponize” his vehicle against officers. Portland Police Chief Bob Day said both individuals had “some nexus” to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, but were not identified as suspects in any shooting, and that any gang affiliation did not necessarily justify the use of force by federal agents. The Oregon Department of Justice said it would investigate.

Scale of enforcement and protests

The Minneapolis enforcement operation began Tuesday. Homeland Security described it as the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever conducted, with more than 2,000 officers participating. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said more than 1,500 arrests had been made as of Friday. The Associated Press, citing documents it obtained, reported that the federal government was also shifting officers to Minneapolis from an ongoing operation in Louisiana.

Good’s death is at least the fifth tied to immigration enforcement operations since President Donald Trump took office, according to the Associated Press.

Protests followed both shootings. In Minneapolis, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the shooting scene in the days following Good’s death, and the Minneapolis school district canceled classes for the rest of the week while offering a remote option through Feb. 12. On Friday evening, hundreds protested outside two downtown hotels where immigration enforcement agents were reported to be staying; some windows were broken or spray-painted, and state law enforcement officers ordered the remaining crowd of fewer than 100 people to disperse. Hundreds also marched to the ICE building in Portland on Friday evening.