This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.
Newly released footage shows Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three, shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week, calmly told the agent, quote, “I’m not mad at you,” right before he shot her. In footage ICE claims was recorded by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on his cellphone, Good is seen sitting in her car as Ross circles around her vehicle in the middle of the road. Good’s wife Becca also speaks to Ross in the roughly 40-second encounter. The video begins shortly before Ross fired his gun, while also recording on his phone, and continues for a few minutes afterwards.
RENEE GOOD: That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad you.
BECCA GOOD: Hey, show your face, big boy. Show your face.
RENEE GOOD: I’m not mad at anything.
BECCA GOOD: That’s OK. We don’t change our plates every morning, just so you know. It’ll be the same plate when you come talk to us later. That’s fine. U.S. citizen, former [bleep] veteran. You want to come at us? You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead.
ICE AGENT: Out of the car. Out of the car. Get out of the [bleep] car. Get out of the car.
JONATHAN ROSS: Whoa!
MALE VOICE: [bleep] bitch.
AMY GOODMAN: After ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Renee Good, a male voice, possibly Ross’s, is heard in the video saying, “F—ing bitch.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports Ross is a firearms instructor who appears to have defended white supremacists online. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and ’05, before joining Border Patrol and then ICE. His family and friends reportedly describe him as a “hardcore conservative Christian and MAGA supporter.”
This comes as Renee Good’s wife Becca released her first statement following the fatal shooting, saying, quote, “Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.” About their encounter with ICE agents, she said, quote, “We had whistles. They had guns,” unquote.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has doubled down on allegations Good was engaged in domestic terrorism. She spoke here on CNN.
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM: She weaponized her vehicle to conduct an act of violence against a law enforcement officer and the public.
AMY GOODMAN: As protests continue in Minneapolis over Good’s killing, tens of thousands of people took to the streets nationwide, led by the ICE Out for Good campaign, from Los Angeles to New York.
PROTESTER: What happened there, completely inexcusable. And what makes it even worse is the administration’s reaction to it, from Kristi Noem, President Trump, Vice President Vance, all of them slandering her as a domestic terrorist. And if they can call her a domestic terrorist, then we’re all domestic terrorists, you know?
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Minneapolis to speak with civil rights attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, as hundreds more federal agents are expected to deploy this week to Minneapolis.
Nekima, thanks for joining us again on Democracy Now! We spoke to you after the George Floyd police murder five years ago, and now here you are back again. If you can respond to what Kristi Noem is saying? She immediately has come to a conclusion about what happened, and they are preventing, saying that they will not cooperate with state and local authorities in Minnesota to investigate what took place. The state and the city of Minneapolis are pushing back. We spoke to Attorney General Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general. Explain what’s happening right now.
NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: Well, number one, we know that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is not only lying, she’s rushing to judgment. Amy, as you know, anytime there’s a police shooting and there are witnesses and we see what happens on video, we’re told, “Pipe down. Wait for the evidence all to come forward, the investigation to be complete, before drawing any conclusions regarding the outcome.” And here, in this instance, we’re seeing the exact opposite take place, but this time at the hands of the federal government, who has already labeled the victim falsely as a domestic terrorist.
We heard from so-called President Donald Trump claiming that Renee Good tried to run the ICE agent over with her vehicle, which, again, is false. He heard JD Vance, the vice president of the United States, claiming that federal agents have complete immunity, which is a lie. And so, those folks at the highest levels of government are perpetuating falsehoods, narratives that are nonsensical, and working overtime to justify the brutal murder of Renee Good, a mother of three, which is unconscionable and unacceptable.
And so, the people of the state of Minnesota, as well, of course, as the city of Minneapolis, have consistently taken to the streets to call for justice for Renee Good. As a matter of fact, the day after Renee Good was killed, the FBI made it clear that they were disinviting the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is one of our state agencies primarily responsible for investigating the use of deadly force in the state of Minnesota. They said that they could no longer participate in the investigation, that they would not share evidence. And so, after that happened, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension essentially said, “Hey, there’s nothing we can do.” And there was silence on the part of a lot of our elected officials, many of whom are Democratic, in terms of running the city of Minneapolis, as well as our governor, Tim Walz, who is a Democrat. They were largely silent after that.
But we, the people, actually made the decision to go out and educate the public. We held an emergency press conference, and we called upon local elected officials to take matters into their own hands by taking control of the investigation. We said, “Under the law, you are able to charge and arrest Jonathan Ross for the murder of Renee Good. We’ve all seen the videos. We know that there are plenty of witnesses. That should be sufficient evidence to demonstrate probable cause for the arrest of Jonathan Ross.”
And I’m saying this in contrast to what happens if, let’s say, a young Black man commits a crime. Imagine a young Black man standing in front of a person’s vehicle and opening fire and shooting them in the head. That person would have been arrested immediately. So, there should not be a double standard for law enforcement, particularly when it comes to ICE agents who are acting with a reckless disregard for human life, and they are also violating the law, but they are not being held accountable.
AMY GOODMAN: I’m wondering, Nekima Levy Armstrong, if you have a comment on your local home paper, Minnesota Star Tribune, reporting Jonathan Ross, a firearms instructor, appears to have defended white supremacists online, deployed to Iraq in 2004 and ’05, before joining Border Patrol and ICE. Friends and family describe him as a “hardcore conservative Christian and MAGA supporter.” His sister took him on in a Facebook post, but saying, “I love you, Jonathan. You’re my brother. But I’m not going to have this fight on Facebook.” Your response?
NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: Well, I’m glad that the Star Tribune is doing its part in reporting the truth. As a matter of fact, one of the demands that we made when we held our press conference was for the release of the name of the ICE agent to come forward, and the Star Tribune was actually the paper that was the first to release Jonathan Ross’s name. And that’s how we found out that he is actually a resident of the state of Minnesota.
He is also married to a Filipino immigrant. And so, there are so many contradictions, you know, with regard to his background, the fact that he would be married to an immigrant and harbor such hateful views. And the way in which he treated Renee Good, from my perspective, demonstrated hate towards women. The fact that you can look at a defenseless woman, who is essentially unarmed, has a smile on her face, is kind in the way that she’s speaking to him, and for him to be able to see her as a threat, it’s just — it’s unconscionable to me.
But again, what we have to realize is that the federal government is essentially unleashing ICE agents, of course, in cities across America, particularly Democratically run cities, which I believe is intentional. And with regard to what is happening in Minnesota, the largest deployment of ICE agents in U.S. history, it’s not a coincidence that this is happening, and, we believe, in retaliation for our governor running to become the vice president of the United States and taking on Donald Trump and MAGA and, you know, speaking the truth around the issues that are happening.
And in response to that, what’s going on? We’re seeing retaliation. We’re seeing hellhounds being unleashed in the city of Minneapolis and claiming to have federal authority to do the things that they’re doing, dragging people out of their cars, busting down people’s doors, kicking in people’s doors, showing up at local Target stores and arresting employees. It’s just — it’s outrageous. The churches aren’t safe. The schools aren’t safe. As a matter of fact, Minneapolis Public Schools shut down schools on Thursday and Friday after an attack by ICE agents, where they were seen physically abusing children, apprehending one or two staff members, as well as pepper-spraying children —
AMY GOODMAN: That was, of course, at —
NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG: — getting out of school, high school students at Roosevelt High School.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s right. Nekima Levy Armstrong, I want to thank you for being with us, civil rights attorney, founder of the Racial Justice Network. Of course, we’re going to continue to cover this. And over the weekend, three lawmakers in Minnesota — Congressmembers Angie Craig, Kelly Morrison, Ilhan Omar — visited a regional ICE headquarters near Minneapolis but were denied access, even though federal law prohibits DHS from blocking congressmembers entering their sites. But last week, the Trump administration reinstated the limits that require lawmakers to provide seven-day notice before visits. We’ll cover this story this week each day.
Next up, All the Walls Came Down, a new documentary by filmmaker Ondi Timoner on last year’s devastating fires in Los Angeles that destroyed her home and left her beloved town of Altadena in ruins. We’ll also speak with the Altadena community leader Heavenly Hughes. Stay with us.
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AMY GOODMAN: “All the Walls Came Down,” performed by Chantal Kreviazuk and written by Chantal and Morgan Doctor.
