Judge orders release of two men in ICE shooting; ICE grabs them again

A federal judge in Minneapolis ordered the pretrial release of two men charged with assaulting ICE officer Jonathan Ross during the Jan. 7 shooting that killed Renee Good, finding there was no evidence they posed a danger or flight risk, but ICE immediately re‑detained them under its own authority at the Whipple Federal Building. The Minnesota Reformer reports Judge Eric Tostrud concluded video showed neither Alejandro Velasco‑Gonzalez nor Kevin Garcia pointing a gun or threatening agents, and said the indictment itself did not justify keeping them jailed while they await trial. Within hours, ICE convened an internal hearing, declared both men immigration enforcement priorities and put them back into civil detention, prompting their lawyers to file an emergency habeas petition arguing ICE is trying to dodge the court’s ruling and chill other detainees from seeking bond. The case, arising from the same south Minneapolis encounter in which Ross shot Good, underlines the growing power struggle between federal judges and immigration authorities in the Twin Cities and raises the stakes of Tostrud’s upcoming decision on whether ICE can effectively nullify his order by shifting defendants from criminal to immigration custody. Advocates online are calling the move “retaliation in all but name,” while federal officials insist they are separately enforcing immigration law.