Justice Department was investigating Renee Good's widow while declining to investigate the ICE agent who killed her

By January 13, 2026, federal officials confirmed the U.S. Department of Justice was pursuing a criminal investigation into Becca Good, the widow of Renee Nicole Macklin Good — the U.S. citizen fatally shot on January 7, 2026 by ICE deportation officer Jonathan Ross during Operation Metro Surge — for potentially "impeding a federal officer" under 18 U.S.C. § 111, a statute Attorney General Pam Bondi's December memo on countering "domestic terrorism" had listed as a lead charge for pursuing "Antifa-aligned extremists." The inquiry reportedly centered on Becca Good's possible ties to activist groups — protected First Amendment activity — rather than on Ross's conduct in the shooting. At the same time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated there was "currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation" into Ross, and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon separately told the Civil Rights Division's criminal section it would not be investigating him. The Justice Department said ICE was conducting its own internal investigation running parallel to any FBI inquiry — a claim a person with knowledge of the matter told Minnesota Public Radio was untrue.

The dual decision — pursuing the shooting victim's widow while declining to examine the agent who killed her — prompted at least a dozen career federal prosecutors to resign in protest. In Minnesota, six prosecutors left the U.S. Attorney's office, including Joe Thompson, the office's lead fraud prosecutor, who had charged 78 people in the Feeding Our Future child-nutrition-fraud case; fraud prosecutor Harry Jacobs; and Melinda Williams, who led the office's criminal division. In Washington, six prosecutors departed the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division criminal section, including the section's chief, principal deputy chief, deputy chief, and acting deputy chief — the unit that ordinarily investigates police killings. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the departing prosecutors "heroes" and said "the people pushing to prosecute Renee's widow are monsters"; U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said "the family and loved ones of Renee Good deserve justice, not political attacks."

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz put the asymmetry directly: "The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her." Becca Good's attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said in a statement that there had been no contact from the FBI or federal officials formally notifying her that she was under investigation. A separate DOJ inquiry into Governor Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, over a theory that their public criticism of the ICE operation amounted to conspiring to impede federal agents, is not part of this record.

Updates

2026-02-09 — Report: senior DOJ officials ordered agents to halt the inquiry and altered warrant language to list Good as a "subject" rather than victim [4]

Truthout reported that senior Justice Department officials ordered agents to halt the criminal inquiry into Becca Good and allegedly altered warrant language to reframe her as a subject rather than a victim of the shooting.

2026-02-25 — Senators demanded an OIG/OPR probe into the investigation's closure [4][5]

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin sent a letter to the Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility asking them to investigate who ordered the closure of the civil-rights investigation into Renee Good's killing and why, citing a whistleblower account.