FBI kicks local investigators off Renee Nicole Good ICE shooting probe

Former prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys are speaking out about the Trump administration's refusal to share investigative materials on the Minneapolis ICE shooting with local authorities, calling the situation highly unusual.

State and local prosecutors in Minnesota say the FBI is stonewalling them. The FBI is leading the probe into the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed in her car on Wednesday by an ICE agent.

'This is what a cover-up looks like,' Dan Gelber, a former federal prosecutor and Miami Beach mayor, told Axios. 

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty claimed during a Friday press conference that the FBI has not been cooperative and has not shared evidence with her office.

That, in part, has prompted her to set up an online portal for citizens to submit whatever information they have about the shooting.

Both Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have said they have the authority to conduct investigations into the shooting and file charges against the ICE agent, who was later identified as 10-year veteran Jonathan Ross.

At the same time, the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions has said it is being barred from the crime scene, is not being given evidence and is not being permitted to conduct interviews.

'At this time, the BCA is not conducting a use-of-force incident investigation,' the agency said in a statement on January 9. 

'The BCA remains open to conducting a full investigation of the incident should the US Attorney's Office and FBI reconsider their approach and express a willingness to resume a joint investigation or to share all evidence and evidentiary reports held by FBI investigators.'

Eric Nelson, one of the defense attorneys for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, has also expressed surprise that federal authorities are taking complete control of the investigation.

'It's shocking to me that this is the route and the path that it's taking, because I do believe that it undermines the public trust in the government,' Nelson told Axios.

The Department of Justice claimed it stopped cooperating with local detectives after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the idea that the ICE agent was defending himself from Good's vehicle was 'bull****.'

'They have no intent to pursue a good-faith investigation,' a DOJ official said in response.

President Donald Trump, who immediately sided with the ICE agent in the aftermath of the shooting, has also defended the decision to cut out local authorities, calling them 'crooked'.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a press conference in New York City on Thursday that Good was following and harassing ICE agents who were in the middle of an operation. Noem characterized Good's conduct as an act of 'domestic terrorism'.

The agent who shot her was acting in self defense, Noem said, adding that his actions were consistent with his training.

'This vehicle was used to hit this officer,' she said. 'It was used as a weapon, and the officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy. It was used to perpetuate a violent act, and this officer took action to protect himself and to protect his fellow law enforcement officers.'

A conservative news outlet, Alpha News, released cellphone footage from the officer's perspective. The video shows him getting out of his vehicle and approaching Good's SUV, which was sideways and partially blocking the street.

He then walks around the SUV, and like in the other videos posted to social media, it's clear that Good initially went in reverse. As the car moves forward, the cellphone camera points up toward the sky as three shots are heard.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the video proved Good tried to run over the agent.

State Representative Aisha Gomez, a Minneapolis Democrat, said the new video has not convinced her that the shooting was justified.

She told The New York Times that the video's release was 'clearly designed to be like, "Look at these terrible people who are interfering with law enforcement. Don’t they deserve to get executed in the middle of the street in the United States of America?"'

Vice President JD Vance has also been vocal in defending the ICE officer, saying on Thursday that he 'deserves a debt of gratitude'.

Vance pointed out that the agent, Jonathan Ross, was dragged 100 yards by a car in June as he tried to arrest an illegal immigrant sex offender in Bloomington, Minnesota.

An FBI agent who spoke to the Daily Mail on condition of anonymity confirmed that Ross was involved in this incident. He ended up needing 20 stitches for his right arm and 13 for his left hand.

After assailing the media for allegedly prejudging Ross as a murderer, Vance accused Good of being part of a 'broader left wing network' that used 'domestic terror techniques' to go after ICE agents.

Vance then commented on Ross's ability to be prosecuted, claiming that he enjoys 'absolute immunity' from criminal charges because he was on duty at the time of the shooting.

Moriarty contradicted Vance, saying that Ross 'does not have complete immunity here'. 

Federal agents have what is called qualified immunity, which protects them from civil lawsuits unless a judge determines that they have clearly violated a person's constitutional rights.

Qualified immunity does not protect agents from facing state or federal criminal charges.

Given that the Trump administration has already sided with Ross, it is a near certainty that the Department of Justice will not pursue a case against him. If Ross is charged, it will likely come from Moriarty's office.

As authorities weigh whether criminal charges are warranted in this case, anti-ICE protests have spread across the country.

Tensions were only further inflamed after two more people were shot by US Customs and Border Protection agents during operations in Portland, Oregon.

Demonstrators were burning American flags and holding signs that call the ICE agent a 'murderer'. Some people in a New York City protest were heard chanting: 'save a life, kill an ICE'.

In downtown Minneapolis, police declared that a protest going on overnight was an unlawful assembly. Dozens of people were detained.

More than 1,000 'ICE Out For Good' protests are set to take place this weekend to call for ICE to leave cities.

The coalition of groups organizing the protests, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the 50501 protest movement, said the events are a response to the shooting of Good and 'the months-long pattern of unchecked violence and abuse in marginalized communities across America'.

This comes after government officials in Minnesota and elsewhere have told ICE that they should drastically reduce their footprint in the wake of what has happened.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was the most explicit in his demand, telling agents to 'get the f*** out' of his city in his first press conference after the shooting.