The family of Renée Good filed two federal civil lawsuits in Minneapolis on October 1, 2026, targeting the U.S. government and immigration officials over her fatal January shooting by an ICE agent during Operation Metro Surge.
Nine months after the fatal January 7 encounter on Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis, the family and partner of Renée Good launched a dual legal assault against the federal government and individual law enforcement officials amid the Trump administration’s mass deportations campaign. The legal filings formally challenge both the systemic conduct of Operation Metro Surge and the specific actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired the fatal shots.
Federal Lawsuits Target Wrongful Death and Civil Rights Conspiracy
Attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin filed the two civil actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of Becca Good, the victim’s partner, and Brent Ganger, her brother. The first complaint names the United States of America as the defendant under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful death predicated on battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.
The second lawsuit invokes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871—a statute originally designed to combat organized political violence and intimidation—alleging a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights by senior federal officials, federal immigration enforcement agents and private actors. The complaint asserts that masked federal agents carried out discriminatory enforcement against Minnesotans of Somali and Hispanic descent, and that Good’s killing sought to intimidate observers documenting the sweep.
Individual Defendants Named in the Operation Metro Surge Complaint
While the tort claims act targets the federal agency directly, the civil rights conspiracy lawsuit names individual defendants alongside ten unnamed agents. The roster includes ICE officer Jonathan Ross—who shot Good three times while she sat in her Honda Pilot SUV—alongside high-profile administration figures.
- Jonathan Ross, ICE agent who fired the fatal shots
- Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
- Kristi Noem, former Homeland Security Secretary
- Corey Lewandowski, adviser
- Thomas D. Homan, White House border czar
- Todd Lyons, former ICE Director
- Gregory Bovino, former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large who led Operation Metro Surge
- John Doe Federal Agents 1-10
Disputed Accounts Surround the January 7 Fatal Encounter
The January 7 confrontation unfolded as federal agents flooded the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge, a federal law enforcement crackdown that deployed 3,000 immigration agents to the region. Neither Good nor her partner Becca was the target of any active immigration investigation.
Video footage captured by bystanders and recorded by officers shows Good blocking traffic on Portland Avenue, urging agents to go around her vehicle. Immigration officers with covered faces swarmed the vehicle, with agents demanding she exit the car. As Good turned her steering wheel away and began to pull forward slowly, Ross fired a round through the windshield, followed by two more shots through the open driver’s side window.
“Ross allegedly fired two more rounds through her open driver’s side window, one of which hit her left temple.”
Newsweek, reporting on court filings
Federal officials defended the shooting from the outset, labeling Good a domestic terrorist and asserting that she weaponized her SUV by striking the officer before he discharged his weapon. Conversely, the family’s legal team argues that Ross violated department use-of-force policies.
Family Testimonies Mark First Public Statements on the Legal Action
During a Thursday press conference announcing the lawsuits, Becca Good delivered her first public remarks since witnessing the shooting on Portland Avenue.
“The whole world had to watch as our entire universe was destroyed. She was the center of my universe and living without her is like trying to live without the sun.”
Becca Good, Partner
Becca Good described the personal toll of spending the school year and upcoming holidays without her partner, noting that their 6-year-old son misses his mother's hugs, jokes, and singing. Brent Ganger, Renee’s brother, also addressed reporters to demand institutional accountability.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis responded to the litigation by stating that the administration would vigorously defend these baseless civil lawsuits, while criticizing mainstream media coverage of crimes committed by individuals in the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Minnesota Prosecutors Investigate Law Enforcement Actions
The civil complaints run parallel to local criminal inquiries in Minnesota. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has been investigating the law enforcement actions surrounding Good’s death, as well as the subsequent fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by immigration agents just two weeks after Good was killed. State officials previously sued the Trump administration in March to gain access to evidence, receiving previously withheld materials in July following federal refusal to cooperate with local prosecutors.
