Family of woman shot by ICE suing government, federal officials

The family of Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman fatally shot by federal immigration agents in January, filed two civil lawsuits on Thursday and partially invoked a 19th-century statute. The Department of Homeland Security characterized Good as a violent protester who attempted to weaponize her vehicle against agents during an operation. Footage of the incident went viral online and triggered a massive public outcry against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, with commentators insisting that Good was attempting to flee the scene, rather than attack the officers.

Antonio Romanucci, the attorney for the Good family, opened the hour-long press conference by stating that what he characterized as the day of accountability had arrived. No one is above the Constitution, and when a government’s power crosses the line, it must be held accountable, Romanucci said. Federal officials are killing citizens with no legal justification, and no one is safe until a true investigation is carried out, he added.

Why two lawsuits? The family’s first lawsuit came under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a statute making the federal government liable for injury, death, or damage caused by a federal employee’s wrongful acts or negligence. With the government’s liability established, the individual employees involved in the incident can’t be named, and a single judge will make the damage rulings, rather than a jury.

The family filed the second civil lawsuit under the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 law making it a federal crime to deny a person or group their constitutional rights and protections. Benjamin Berkman, another attorney representing the Good family, described ICE’s Operation Metro Surge as a coordinated effort to target, harass, and intimidate Somali and Hispanic Minnesotans. From that coordinated effort to terrorize those groups came another coordinated effort, using any means necessary, to silence Minnesotans who wouldn't turn a blind eye, Berkman said. The family sought a jury trial, he added.

The second filing specifically named the agent who fatally shot Good, along with other agents at the scene, Berkman said. The lawsuit also named White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, Border Czar Tom Homan, former ICE leader Todd Lyons, and former Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. Berkman alleged that Good’s death was a predictable outcome of the coordinated campaign orchestrated by the named senior Trump officials.

How has the Trump administration responded? WORLD reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday evening. A spokesman for ICE replied that the incident remained under investigation and there would be no further comment.