Federal investigators are unlikely to file criminal charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis last week, according to officials familiar with the investigation.
The Justice Department is also not expected to open a civil rights inquiry into the shooting. The FBI is leading the investigation into the Jan. 7 encounter, in which Good, 37, was shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during an operation in south Minneapolis.
Authorities have indicated that investigators increasingly view the use of force as legally justified, making criminal charges unlikely, though the inquiry remains ongoing and a final determination has not been announced, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Federal officials have said the shooting occurred after Good drove her vehicle toward agents as they attempted to carry out an enforcement action. Other accounts, including statements from witnesses and community leaders, have raised questions about the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
The death has sparked protests in Minneapolis and drawn criticism from local and state officials, who have called for greater transparency and accountability. Demonstrations continued in the days following the shooting, with protesters demanding an independent investigation and the release of additional information about the encounter.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has declined to open a separate review into whether Good’s civil rights were violated, according to officials. That decision has prompted internal dissent, with several federal prosecutors resigning in protest over the department’s handling of the case.
The lawyers had reportedly been pushing the head of the division, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, to dispatch a DOJ team to Minneapolis to manufacture a civil rights case.
“Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were told they will not play a role in the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer, according to two sources familiar with the matter,” who spoke to CBS News.
After being told “no,” a group of “top leaders” in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division “have left their jobs to register their frustration with the department.”
Exclusive from @MSNOWNews : There has been a mass resignation among leaders in the criminal section of the Department of Justice civil rights division over the failure to investigate the Minneapolis ICE shooting. With @CarolLeonnig https://t.co/1Vsc6S5cgA
— Ken Dilanian (@KDilanianMSNOW) January 13, 2026
“The departures – including that of the chief of the section, as well as the principal deputy chief, deputy chief and acting deputy chief – represent the most significant mass resignation at the Justice Department since February,” the report added.
Dhillon made clear shortly after taking her position last year that left-wing politically motivated investigations which were rife under the Biden administration would be ending.
“We don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police department based on statistical evidence or persecute people praying outside abortion facilities instead of doing violence,” she said.
She added, “The job here is to enforce the federal civil rights laws — not woke ideology.”
Local authorities are conducting their own review, though any criminal charging decision involving a federal agent would fall under federal jurisdiction. Officials emphasized that the findings could still change as investigators complete their work and review additional evidence, including body-camera footage and witness statements.
Friends have stated that Good was an anti-ICE activist, drawn into activism through her 6-year-old son’s charter school and its local “ICE Watch” group. They noted that she worked to document and resist the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
“She was a warrior. She died doing what was right,” a mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same school, told The Post at a growing vigil where Good was killed Wednesday.
Neighbors also reported that Good regularly attended meetings with the local chapter and had received thorough training from the group.
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