FBI takes over probe into fatal ICE shooting over state officials’ objections

Minnesota political and law enforcement leaders heavily criticized a decision by federal officials to remove the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from what had been a joint investigation with the FBI into the killing of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.

The BCA announced on Thursday that it “reluctantly withdrew” from the investigation after the federal decision, which sources said was delivered by Dan Rosen, Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney. Gov. Tim Walz said it was done at the behest of the Trump administration.

The decision means that no state law enforcement agency is involved in investigating the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.

Walz and Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said at a news conference on Jan. 8 that it was an abrupt reversal from an agreement on Wednesday by various agencies — including the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI — to let the BCA Force Investigations Unit conduct a joint investigation.

Walz said without the inclusion of state law enforcement, Minnesotans will be deprived of transparency and accountability for Good’s killing. He vehemently argued that the federal government should let Minnesota back into the investigation.

“I want to make this as clear as possible to everyone: Minnesota must be part of this,” Walz said. “I think it’s clear to everyone, as they saw this, that it feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation, it feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome.”

Walz said federal officials including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had already publicly said things about Good that Walz said were “verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate.”

“They have not been cut out,” Noem said Thursday. “They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

Good, a mother of three, was shot and killed during an ICE enforcement action on Wednesday morning on Portland Avenue. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified the shooter as Jonathan Ross, the same officer who was dragged and injured by a fleeing driver in a separate ICE enforcement incident last year in Bloomington.

At a news conference Thursday, Noem was asked about removing the BCA from the investigation.

“I’d like to know where they’ve been and why they’re not out on the streets investigating all these people that are harassing and inciting violence on law enforcement officers right now,” Noem said. She added that Minnesota law enforcement were not doing their job and allowing the situation to become “volatile.” When pressed on why the investigation had changed, she said Minnesota law enforcement had not been cut out. “They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

The killing of Good sparked protests across the state amid calls for a thorough investigation into whether Ross’ use of deadly force was justified. Several videos of the shooting have circulated online, creating dividing lines over what people believe happened based on the footage.

“I don’t make any prejudgments about what happened yesterday,” he said. “We can all see what we want to see in the videos and in the media ... I will not, as a public safety official, jump to any conclusions about who is at fault.”

Jacobson said typically if there is use of force by a federal officer, federal officials lead the investigation, but “we have participated in numerous investigations in the past.”

A source familiar with the intersection of federal and state law enforcement said they could not remember a single recent instance of the FBI conducting an independent investigation into a potential crime by a federal officer.

The source drew a distinction between criminal investigations and the mandatory administrative investigations by the FBI into use of force by its agents.

A recent example is the 2021 shooting death of Winston Smith in Minneapolis. That shooting was carried out by officers taking part in a U.S. Marshals task force, and Smith’s killing was investigated by the BCA.

In a statement Thursday, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that after the FBI removed the BCA from the investigation, “our office immediately began exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.”

Moriarty said if the FBI is left as the lone agency, Minnesota prosecutors “will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents.

“We are speaking to our local partners on paths forward that will allow us to review the investigation and be transparent in our decision making.”

Without joint cooperation from the FBI, the BCA has authority to conduct an independent state investigation into the shooting. The BCA said the FBI takeover means it no longer has access to case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews gathered in the immediate aftermath of Good’s killing.

“Without that information or assistance from the FBI, from the federal government, we would be at a loss to initiate and conduct a thorough investigation,” Jacobson said. “For us to be able to do that would be extremely difficult if not impossible.”

“Minnesotans have made it clear time and again they expect transparency in this process where a police officer uses deadly force,” Walz said, adding that the BCA had earned that trust by “delivering on that expectation.”

In an interview with CNN shortly after the BCA was removed from the investigation, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison addressed federal authorities, saying, “My question is, what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of an independent investigation for?”

Ellison said he cautioned the FBI to “wait a minute, don’t do this stupid thing! Do not go forward with an exclusive, which would be an inherently untrustworthy investigation.”

Walz pointed time and again to “the gravity of this situation,” and the desire of Minnesotans to get a better understanding of everything that happened leading up to Good’s death.

“And that’s why, once again, I’m going to reiterate to our federal partners: simply let us be part of this,” Walz said. “Use our professional folks. They will gain you the credibility and the trust of Minnesotans to believe the work that you’re doing is honest and it’s not just a whitewash.”