US Vice President JD Vance has declared that newly released body-worn camera footage definitively shows an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent acted in self-defence when he fatally shot a 37-year-old mother during a confrontation in Minneapolis.
Bodycam Footage Reveals Tense Confrontation
The high-definition video, obtained by Minnesota outlet Alpha News, captures the moments leading up to the death of Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday. In the clip, Good is seen smiling at ICE agent Jonathan 'Jon' Ross from her Honda Pilot, stating, 'That's fine dude. I'm not mad at you.'
Her wife, Rebecca Good, 40, is heard urging the agent to 'show his face' and taunting him with, 'You want to come at us? Go get yourself some lunch big boy.' As tensions escalated on the street, Ross ordered Good to exit the vehicle, an instruction she ignored.
The Fatal Sequence of Events
Good began revving her car's engine and drove off. The Trump administration states the incident occurred during a protest against planned detentions of Somali migrants in the area. Rebecca Good can be heard shouting 'drive baby, drive' as the agent's bodycam jerks violently.
It remains unclear whether Ross was struck by the vehicle or jumped to avoid it. The agent then fired three shots, one of which pierced the Honda's windshield, striking and killing Renee Nicole Good. An agent is heard calling Good a 'f***ing bitch' as the shots are fired. Moments later, her car crashed into two parked vehicles.
Political Firestorm and Conflicting Narratives
The incident has sparked national division and protests. Vice President Vance, viewing the footage, took to social media platform X to lambast the media's portrayal. 'Watch this, as hard as it is,' he wrote. 'Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn't hit by a car, wasn't being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defence.'
Vance accused the press of 'disgusting' lies and 'an all-time moment in shameless press propaganda.' While expressing that Good's death was a tragedy, he argued it was 'a tragedy of her own making,' blaming 'left-wing ideology.'
In contrast, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has dismissed the self-defence claim as 'garbage,' based on his viewing of the recordings. Agent Ross, branded a 'murderer' by some Democrats, has received the full backing of the Trump administration.
This incident occurred six months after Ross suffered serious injuries, requiring 20 stitches, when he was dragged 100 yards by a car during another arrest attempt. Friends of Good told The New York Post she was part of an activist network connected to her son's 'social justice first' charter school, which resists ICE. Her mother, however, has denied her daughter would have been part of such protests.
