Judge orders private review of ICE evidence in Renee Good shooting as Minnesota sues for access
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to turn over unredacted evidence from the ICE shooting death of Renee Good for a private, in camera review within three weeks, a ruling that directly clashes with federal resistance to sharing files with local prosecutors. The order — issued in a separate case in which a man previously arrested by ICE agent Jonathan Ross seeks the Good investigation file to challenge his conviction — requires a broad set of materials, including Ross's full training and personnel files; ICE/DHS use-of-force and officer-involved-shooting policies in effect from June 17, 2025 through Jan. 7, 2026; statements by Ross and other witnesses surrounding the Jan. 7, 2026 shooting; all photos, video and audio from 30 minutes before to 60 minutes after the encounter; Ross's cellphone data and related medical evaluations. At the same time, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the State of Minnesota and the BCA have filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., pressing DOJ and DHS to turn over evidence in three shootings — the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis — after formal Touhy letters demanding weapons, autopsies, training materials, and officer identities went largely unanswered.
The order and the statewide lawsuit come against a legal backdrop that makes state prosecutions of federal officers unusually difficult: from 2010 to 2026 such prosecutions have been rare, and courts generally require proof that federal agents acted entirely outside the scope of their official duties to overcome Supremacy Clause protections. Minnesota officials themselves have acknowledged that a state conviction is unlikely unless federal prosecutors act, which helps explain Moriarty's push for access and her preparedness to sue if Touhy demands are ignored. The controversy has urgency beyond legal doctrine: in 2026 there have already been at least nine deaths linked to U.S. immigration enforcement, a rise in fatalities tied to ICE operations, and growing local political pressure to treat the Good and Pretti cases as tests of accountability. Meanwhile, Hennepin County has moved forward on at least one other matter — charging ICE officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with assault over a Feb. 5 highway incident — illustrating that cases where local investigators can gather non-federal evidence can proceed more quickly.
Early reporting emphasized federal obstruction and the procedural obstacles facing state investigators; outlets first highlighted Moriarty's Touhy letters and warnings that noncompliance would prompt litigation. Newer coverage has escalated the story to litigation and judicial intervention: Minnesotareformer and FOX 9 drove the shift by detailing the federal lawsuit's broader claims about state sovereignty and by reporting the judge's specific in-camera order, respectively. Public reaction on social media has been sharply critical of federal withholding, with users and local commentators calling for transparency and questioning why local authorities are being shut out when an American citizen was killed. In response to perceived stonewalling, Moriarty has launched a "Transparency and Accountability Project" portal to crowdsource evidence in multiple incidents — a move reflecting both the political stakes and the practical reality that, given legal limits on state prosecutions, public documentation and federal cooperation may be the clearest paths to accountability.
📊 Relevant Data
In fiscal year 2025, the top nationalities deported by ICE were from Mexico (144,000), Guatemala, and Honduras, with Mexicans comprising a significant portion despite changes in annual figures under different administrations.
More Mexicans were deported annually under Biden than by Trump — Los Angeles Times
Minnesota hosts the largest Somali diaspora in the United States, with immigration primarily driven by refugee resettlement programs starting in the 1990s following the Somali civil war, leading to significant population growth in the Twin Cities area.
How Minnesota became a hub for Somali immigrants in the U.S. — NPR
From 2010 to 2026, state prosecutions of federal officers under the Supremacy Clause have been rare and face a high legal bar, with success often requiring proof that actions were outside official duties, and federal precedent limiting such cases.
When Can States Prosecute Federal Agents? — State Court Report
In 2026, there have been at least nine deaths related to U.S. immigration enforcement, including shootings, with a notable increase in fatalities tied to ICE operations compared to previous years.
US witnessed many ICE-related deaths in 2026. Here are their stories — Al Jazeera
Latinx individuals accounted for more than 91% of deportations in recent years, despite comprising approximately 50.3% of the foreign-born population in the United States, indicating a disparity in enforcement targeting.
LATINO ICE DETENTIONS DRAMATICALLY RESHAPED UNDER TRUMP — UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
📌 Key Facts
- Hennepin County Attorney’s Office sent formal Touhy requests to DOJ and DHS demanding the full evidentiary record in the ICE killing of Renee Good — including weapons and casings, all video and photos, medical and autopsy records, internal policies and training materials, and the identities and statements of every federal officer involved — and set firm deadlines (mid‑February for Good-related materials and March 3 for Pretti-related materials).
- Mary Moriarty has publicly accused federal agencies of 'obstructing' local investigations, launched a "Transparency and Accountability Project" portal to collect public evidence, warned she would sue if Touhy requests were ignored, and on March 24 filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. (joined by the State of Minnesota and the BCA) seeking DOJ/DHS records in three Metro Surge shootings: Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Julio Sosa‑Celis.
- Minnesota’s lawsuit and filings seek not only physical and investigative evidence (weapons, casings, photos, video, autopsies and witness statements) but also DHS/DOJ internal communications, Metro Surge policies and training materials, and allege prior ignored Touhy deadlines to build a record of bad faith and state‑level obstruction of its constitutional duty to investigate homicides.
- A U.S. District Court judge ordered the federal government to produce unredacted evidence from the Renee Good shooting for an in camera (private) judicial review within three weeks in a separate case tied to ICE agent Jonathan Ross; the judge’s order specifies a broad set of materials to be produced (Ross’s complete training and personnel files; ICE/DHS use‑of‑force and officer‑involved‑shooting policies in effect June 17, 2025–Jan. 7, 2026; any Ross statements in the hour before/during and in subsequent months; all witness statements; all photos, video and audio from 30 minutes before to 60 minutes after the shooting; Ross’s Jan. 7 cellphone data; medical evaluations; and statements about his interaction with the earlier defendant).
- News coverage and legal experts stress the Supremacy Clause creates a high legal hurdle for state prosecutions of federal officers — making state trials unlikely unless federal prosecutors act — and DOJ has reportedly opened a federal civil‑rights probe only in the Pretti case so far.
- Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was criticized for MPD’s lack of visible intervention during Operation Metro Surge; he said MPD was "trying to adjust," noted local limits because federal agents operate under different laws, and said MPD has referred two possible misdemeanor assault incidents involving federal agents to an Inspector General but has not received a response.
- Separately, Hennepin County was able to charge ICE officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with assault over an alleged Feb. 5 highway incident because the State Patrol gathered evidence (victim statements and an SUV plate video) without needing ICE’s internal files; prosecutors say that incident resembled road rage rather than an on‑duty law‑enforcement action.
- The dispute has become a high‑profile political test in Minnesota over whether federal agents involved in Metro Surge violence can be held to account locally; state leaders (including Moriarty and Attorney General Keith Ellison) have called the feds’ refusal to share evidence "unprecedented," "arbitrary" and "capricious," and framed the litigation as necessary to protect state sovereignty and public‑safety interests.
📰 Source Timeline (8)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- While local and state officials are still fighting DOJ and DHS in court for unredacted records in the Renee Good shooting and other January ICE shootings, Hennepin County has already brought separate assault charges against ICE officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. for a non-fatal Feb. 5 highway incident.
- Moriarty publicly explained why the Morgan assault case could move faster than the Good/Pretti/Sosa-Celis shootings — the State Patrol was able to gather evidence, identify Morgan and interview him without the same federal obstruction that has forced a Touhy fight over the January death investigations.
- Morgan’s case centers on an off-base use of his service weapon in what looks a lot more like road rage than law enforcement, which prosecutors say they could document with victim statements and a video of the SUV’s plate, without relying on ICE’s internal files.
- A U.S. District Court judge has ordered the federal government to turn over unredacted evidence from the ICE shooting of Renee Good for an in camera (private) court review within three weeks.
- The order arises in a separate case involving ICE agent Jonathan Ross, where a man he previously arrested is seeking the full Good shooting investigative file to challenge his conviction.
- The judge’s order specifies a sweeping list of materials to be produced unredacted: Ross’s complete training and personnel files; ICE/DHS use‑of‑force and officer‑involved‑shooting policies in effect from June 17, 2025 through Jan. 7, 2026; any statements by Ross in the hour before and during Good’s killing and in the following months related to the investigation or the Good family; all witness statements; all photos, videos and audio from 30 minutes before to 60 minutes after the shooting; Ross’s Jan. 7 cellphone data; any medical evaluations of Ross tied to the investigation; and all statements Ross made about his interaction with the defendant in the earlier case.
- This is explicitly an in camera review: for now only the judge, not the parties or public, will see the records, although Minnesota is suing DOJ and DHS in a separate action to obtain the same evidence.
- The lawsuit explicitly names the Trump administration and casts the dispute as Minnesota v. the current DHS/DOJ leadership, not just an inter‑agency records fight.
- Filings detail that Minnesota is seeking not only evidentiary items (weapons, casings, video, autopsies) but also DHS/DOJ internal policies, training materials, and communications tied to Metro Surge operations in Minneapolis.
- The complaint argues that federal stonewalling is preventing Minnesota from fulfilling its constitutional duty to investigate homicides and frames the obstruction itself as a violation of state sovereignty and local public‑safety interests.
- The suit cites specific prior attempts at cooperation — including ignored or blown deadlines on Touhy requests — to build a record that DOJ and DHS have acted in bad faith.
- The article notes growing political pressure in Minnesota, including calls from state officials and advocates, to treat the Good and Pretti killings as test cases for whether any federal agent can be held to account for Metro Surge violence in the Twin Cities.
- A federal lawsuit has now been filed in Washington, D.C. by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the State of Minnesota, and the BCA against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
- The suit explicitly seeks to force DOJ and DHS to turn over evidence in three Minneapolis shootings by federal agents: the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa‑Celis.
- Moriarty publicly called the lack of a transparent investigation "unprecedented" and vowed, "We will not sit by and let that happen," while Ellison said the feds’ refusal to share evidence is "arbitrary" and "capricious" and has "no rational basis."
- The article reiterates that legal experts think a state conviction of the federal officers is unlikely even if prosecutors bring charges, because they would have to prove the agents acted outside the scope of their official duties, while DOJ has opened a civil‑rights probe only in the Pretti case.
- Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara appeared before the Community Commission on Police Oversight and was sharply criticized by about three dozen residents and activists over MPD’s lack of visible intervention during Operation Metro Surge.
- O’Hara publicly stated that MPD was in a 'constant state of trying to adjust' during the surge and said the department’s response 'wasn’t perfect,' arguing that local officers are limited because federal agents operate under different laws.
- O’Hara revealed that MPD is investigating two possible misdemeanor assault cases involving federal agents during the crackdown and has referred them to an Inspector General’s Office, but has not yet received any response.
- Moriarty says federal agencies are already 'obstructing' her office’s investigation into the Renee Good and Alex Pretti shootings and is prepared to file new lawsuits as soon as Tuesday if Touhy demands are ignored.
- Her office set a March 3 response deadline on its Touhy request for Pretti-case evidence and will treat non‑compliance as further obstruction.
- Moriarty publicly reiterated she expects to have enough non‑federal evidence to make charging decisions in both Good and Pretti shootings despite federal resistance and the Supremacy Clause hurdle.
- She formally launched a "Transparency and Accountability Project" portal to collect public evidence on 17 separate incidents involving potentially unlawful actions by federal agents, including actions by Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino.
- The article underlines that, in practice, Supremacy Clause protections make it unlikely federal officers will ever face a state trial, so any criminal case would almost certainly have to come from federal prosecutors.
- The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has now sent formal Touhy letters to both DOJ and DHS demanding the full evidentiary record in the ICE killing of Renee Good, including weapons and casings, all video and photos, medical and autopsy records, internal policies and training materials, and the identities and statements of every federal officer involved.
- The office set a specific deadline (mid‑February) for the federal government to turn over materials, framing it as necessary to complete its criminal review because DOJ has signaled it is not pursuing its own criminal case.
- The article underscores that without federal cooperation, any state prosecution of ICE officer Jonathan Ross would face huge legal hurdles under supremacy‑clause protections — making this document demand a key test of whether local authorities will be allowed to fully investigate.