Protests over the actions of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) following the death of Renee Nicole Good have been extensive across the US, from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. The fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, an unarmed mother of three, who had just dropped a child off at school, by Jonathan Ross, a 43-year-old ICE agent, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 7 January 2026, has been captured in multiple videos recorded by eyewitnesses.
President Donald Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noam, among others in the administration have sought to explain this killing as a defense of an ICE agent who was allegedly ‘run over’ by the car that Renee Good was driving. However, from the recorded eyewitness accounts (even one by the shooter), it is blatantly clear that the President’s account was untrue, as was the account provided by the Vice President and Sec of Homeland Security. Kristi Noam claimed Renee was a ‘domestic terrorist’.
You have probably seen one or more of the videos which have been seen by many and replayed around the world. If you have not, these recordings make it abundantly clear that ICE agents frightened Renee Good, aggressively approaching her car and yelling at her to [“get out of the f….ing car”] and physically trying to force open her car door. Frightened, she tried to drive off, steering away from the agent who was circling in front of her car, before this ICE agent fired three shots at point blank range to her face – two were fired by his gun appearing to be firing inside the driver’s side window of her car. Immediately after shooting her, he cursed her, calling her a “F…ing bitch”, reinforcing the likelihood of malicious intent.
No ICE agent was run over or injured. Less than a minute before he would shoot her, Renee smiled and told the Jonathan Ross agent that she was not mad at him. Her old dog was in the back seat and her wife was outside the car, as Renee had dropped her wife off to observe ICE, a perfectly legal activity.
As Renee was dying, her car continued to move forward, plowing into a parked car where bystanders attempted to help her. At least one doctor was nearby and offered to help, but all were told to stay away from the victim. The shooter literally strolled back to his vehicle and told colleagues to call emergency 911. Emergency vehicles were obstructed by other ICE agent cars. A total disaster. It violated a general principle that no police officer should ever shoot into a moving vehicle.
Many MAGA supporters have parroted the Administration’s narrative, despite clear video evidence to the contrary. It is self-evident that she was killed by an ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, who was not being run over, not trying to save himself, or the public. Over a dozen other individuals have been shot recently by ICE, but this shooting in Minneapolis has been captured – documented – by what I have called the ‘Fifth Estate’ – networked individuals who have been empowered by the technologies they carry in their hands to hold institutions like ICE more accountable for their actions. Multiple and critical aspects of the Administration’s narrative are obviously false, not credible considering these eyewitness accounts.
This did not stop the administration from spinning a false narrative – creating what might be an enduring case study of creating a ‘political truth’ for his followers. He and his colleagues used four complementary strategies.
First, he focused on ‘cognitive politics’ – telling people what to believe. He tried to spin this as a positive event, an effort to save an ICE agent, but the basic focus of the President was to tell his followers what they should see as the truth.
Secondly, he was very fast – if not the first – to create his narrative of an ICE agent shooting in self-defence. The President even wished him well in the hospital [Ross walked to the victim crash and away from it, uninjured]. Trump must have spun this narrative even before he saw any of the videos of the shooting, as they so dramatically contradict his narrative.
Thirldly, given that the facts quickly got in the way of his manufactured political truth, he shifted his focus on the sources of the opposing narrative of Renee Good attacking the officer rather than trying to avoid the officer and leave the scene. The Governor of Minnesota and the Mayor of the City of Minneapolis both saw the videos and painted a far more realistic narrative that described what happened. The Governor’s and Mayor’s narratives were then used by the President to claim that the local public officials were politically partisan and that their accounts were false, designed to undermine the administration. His message was that anyone who disagrees with him is trying to undermine him politically – they are Democrats.
Fourthly, when the President’s narrative was challenged by the video evidence – even that taken and provided by the shooter – the President and his colleagues doubled-down on their initial narrative.
Finally, the administration moved to restrict the collection of evidence by state and local officials, even leaving the investigation under the FBI and restricting any collaboration with local law enforcement. This shooting should have been investigated immediately by the state and local police forces, along with federal agencies, but state agencies were usurped by federal agencies, including the FBI, which has also lost its credibility under another Trump loyalist, Kash Patel. Federal agencies are also trying to take control of all videos of the incident. Fortunately, the state and local agencies in Minnesota have taken steps to investigate the shooting independently – so everyone should save their videos of the shooting and provide their eyewitness accounts to their local and state law enforcement.
Therefore, while the officer who shot Renee Good should have been arrested as soon as possible, the documentation of what happened was very solid and needs to be retained. Thanks to the individuals who videoed the event from multiple angles there is hope that the evidence can be saved. Keep them, share them, protect them. There are no time limitations on murder. Justice will be done, even if it takes another administration to properly try this case in a court of law.
Moreover, this case study of the politicization of truth will not be the last. It is important to study this case study of how truth is being undermined in such politically obvious and horrific ways. Who but die hard MAGA Republicans will trust the Trump administration once they understand the political dynamics of this event? People must believe their own eyes in such situations.
References
Dutton, W. (2023), The Fifth Estate. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cognitive Politics: see an earlier blog: https://billdutton.me/2023/08/03/cognitive-politics/