The Renee Good lawsuit landscape actually consists of several separate legal actions moving on parallel tracks: two suits filed by the State of Minnesota against federal agencies, a still-unfiled civil claim being prepared by Good’s family, and a federal criminal case whose judge has ordered the government to hand over records about the officer who killed her. No damages case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross had been filed as of mid-2026, and the legal barriers to bringing one are a central part of the story.
What the Lawsuits Are About
Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by Ross on January 7, 2026, in south Minneapolis during “Operation Metro Surge,” a federal immigration enforcement push launched by the Department of Homeland Security in December 2025.1ABC News. Minneapolis ICE Shooting Minute-by-Minute Timeline Good and her wife, Becca Good, had stopped to support neighbors gathered near a federal vehicle stuck in the snow. Ross fired three shots in rapid succession into Good’s Honda Pilot, and bystander video showed he was standing out of the vehicle’s path when he opened fire.2CNN. ICE Shooting Minneapolis Renee Good The Hennepin County Medical Examiner classified her death as a homicide.3FOX 9. Renee Good’s Death Ruled Homicide by Hennepin Medical Examiner
DHS said Ross fired defensively and acted according to his training. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the agent’s actions “reckless,” and five use-of-force experts consulted by the Star Tribune questioned firing at a moving vehicle, with some calling it a “bad shooting.”4Star Tribune. ICE Agent Who Fatally Shot Woman in Minneapolis Is Identified Those competing accounts are the factual ground under every lawsuit that has followed.
The Good Family’s Civil Case
Good’s family retained the Chicago firm Romanucci & Blandin, led by Antonio Romanucci, who previously represented the families of George Floyd and Botham Jean.5Chicago Tribune. Antonio Romanucci, Renee Good, George Floyd On January 14, 2026, the firm issued a nine-page Evidence Preservation Notice to ICE, DHS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, the DOJ, and Ross personally. It demanded preservation of Good’s car, her cell phone, electronic data, text messages among agents, Ross’s statements, and his personnel and disciplinary files, and gave recipients five days to respond. As of March 2026, no federal entity had acknowledged receipt or confirmed it was preserving anything.6CPR News. Renee Good Lawsuit Federal Cooperation
Filing the underlying case is harder than it sounds. Two doors exist, and both are narrow.
The Federal Tort Claims Act is the primary avenue for suing the federal government. The family must first file an administrative claim and wait up to six months for the government to respond before going to court, and any resulting case is heard by a judge, not a jury.7USA Today. Renee Good ICE Federal Agents Supreme Court
The more direct route, suing Ross personally for a constitutional violation under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, has been all but closed by recent Supreme Court decisions. Egbert v. Boule (2022) severely limited damages claims against federal immigration agents for excessive force.7USA Today. Renee Good ICE Federal Agents Supreme Court Romanucci said the family’s attorneys were “still determining what the monetary relief sought will be” and were working with legislators to address the accountability gap.6CPR News. Renee Good Lawsuit Federal Cooperation As of mid-2026, no FTCA claim or civil lawsuit had been filed.
One point worth naming: Vice President JD Vance publicly asserted that Ross was “protected by absolute immunity” as a federal officer performing official duties. Constitutional law professor Michael J.Z. Mannheimer said that under more than a century of case law, federal officials do not enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken on the job. Former federal prosecutor Timothy Sini said that if state charges were brought, a federal court would assess whether Ross was acting within his official duties and whether his use of force was “objectively reasonable.”8CNN. ICE Immunity JD Vance Minneapolis
Minnesota’s Suit Against Operation Metro Surge
On January 12, 2026, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the state and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul against DHS and federal officials, challenging the constitutionality of the entire enforcement operation. State of Minnesota v. Noem (No. 0-26-cv-00190) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The complaint alleged First Amendment retaliation, arguing the operation targeted Minnesota for its political views; Tenth Amendment violations, arguing the federal government was commandeering local resources and disrupting schools and hospitals; and Administrative Procedure Act violations.9Syracuse Law Review. Minnesota Sues Department of Homeland Security Following the Fatal ICE-Involved Shooting of Renee Good
On January 31, 2026, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied the state’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt the operation. In a 30-page opinion, she wrote that there was “no precedent for a court to micromanage” the scale of a federal law enforcement deployment. She acknowledged evidence of “racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions” but found the legal arguments too unclear at that stage to justify injunctive relief.10Politico. Judge Rejects Bid to End Trump Administration’s Immigration Enforcement Surge in Minnesota Ellison called the case “in its infancy,” and the litigation continues.11PBS NewsHour. Federal Judge Says She Won’t Halt the Immigration Enforcement Surge in Minnesota
Minnesota’s D.C. Suit to Force Evidence Release
The second Minnesota lawsuit grew out of a standoff over physical evidence. Immediately after the shooting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office designated the FBI as the sole investigative agency and took possession of Good’s vehicle and shell casings from Ross’s firearm. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which had initially agreed to conduct a joint investigation, was shut out that same day.12Courthouse News Service. Minnesota Sues Feds for Evidence in Pretti, Good Slayings
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty opened her own investigation and submitted formal Touhy request letters to the DOJ and DHS demanding firearms, casings, video, medical records, and agent statements, with a February 17, 2026, deadline.13FOX 9. Hennepin County Attorney Demands Feds Turn Over Evidence in Renee Good Shooting The DOJ ignored the requests, and DHS redirected its request to the DOJ.14CBS News. Minnesota State, County Sue Government Over Renee Good, Alex Pretti Investigations On March 18, 2026, the FBI notified state investigators that the DOJ and DHS had decided to transfer evidence from Good’s shooting to the DHS Office of Inspector General rather than share it with Minnesota.15Spokesman-Review. Minnesota Sues Trump Administration for Evidence Good’s vehicle remained in shrink-wrap at an FBI storage facility in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, never examined by state investigators.
On March 24, 2026, Ellison, Moriarty, and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:26-cv-01007), naming the DOJ, DHS, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The suit seeks release of evidence connected to three shootings during Operation Metro Surge: Good’s killing, the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti on January 24, 2026, and the wounding of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis on January 14, 2026.12Courthouse News Service. Minnesota Sues Feds for Evidence in Pretti, Good Slayings The complaint alleges Administrative Procedure Act and Tenth Amendment violations, calling the federal refusal to share evidence “unprecedented.”16JURIST. Minnesota Sues DOJ and DHS Over Refusal to Provide Shootings Evidence The Justice Department has maintained that Minnesota has no jurisdiction in killings involving federal officers.
A Parallel Path: The Muñoz-Guatemala Evidence Order
Some of what state investigators and Good’s family have been unable to obtain may surface through an unrelated federal criminal case. On June 17, 2025, Ross had attempted to arrest Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala during a traffic stop in Bloomington, Minnesota. After Ross broke the vehicle’s window and reached inside, Muñoz-Guatemala drove away, dragging Ross roughly 100 yards. A jury convicted him of assault on a federal officer in December 2025.17The Intercept. Renee Good Killing Minneapolis Jonathan Ross Videos
After Ross killed Good a month later, defense attorney Eric Newmark argued Ross’s conduct in the Good shooting suggested a pattern of reckless escalation that could have changed the jury’s view of the earlier encounter.18Detroit News. Lawyer Wants New Trial in Earlier Case Involving ICE Officer Who Shot Renee Good19KSTP. Judge Orders Evidence of Renee Good’s Killing by Federal Agent to Be Turned Over20The Advocate. Judge Demands Renee Good Records The magistrate is to review the materials and determine what may go to the defense.21MPR News. Renee Good Killing ICE Judge Orders Feds Turn Over Evidence
State Laws Aimed at the Bivens Gap
Because the Supreme Court has narrowed Bivens so far that families like Good’s have almost no direct damages remedy against federal agents, several states have moved to create one. In California, Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB 747, the “No Kings Act,” which would create a state-law cause of action allowing individuals to seek monetary damages from federal officers who violate clearly established constitutional rights. The bill passed the California Senate on January 27, 2026, by a 30-to-10 vote and moved to the Assembly.22KQED. California Senate Approves Bill Making It Easier to Sue ICE Agents Supporters cited Good’s and Pretti’s deaths as reasons for the law, and similar bills were introduced in Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia.23Davis Vanguard. California No Kings Act Whether any of those laws would provide a viable route for Good’s family in Minnesota is a separate question the file does not answer.
Where Things Stand
Three cases are live and one is pending. Minnesota’s constitutional challenge to Operation Metro Surge continues after the January 31 injunction denial. Minnesota’s D.C. evidence suit is in its early stages. Judge Bryan’s April 9 order in the Muñoz-Guatemala case has set a concrete deadline for the federal government to produce records that state investigators and Good’s family have been trying to obtain since January. The family’s own damages case has not yet been filed, and the path to filing runs through either the FTCA’s administrative claim process or a Bivens theory the Supreme Court has spent two decades narrowing.