Jonathan Ross

Introduction

Jonathan Ross is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and a ten-year veteran of the agency who fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in the driver’s seat of her SUV in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, during the federal immigration crackdown known as Operation Metro Surge. He has never been criminally charged. On October 1, 2026, Good’s family filed two federal lawsuits naming Ross as a lead defendant alongside senior Trump administration officials, alleging wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights. Investigative reporting says Ross was placed on three days of administrative leave, quietly moved out of Minnesota, and remains an ICE employee.

Background Information

Ross, 43, was working as an ICE officer in Minneapolis in January 2026, when the Department of Homeland Security was carrying out Operation Metro Surge — described in reporting as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever mounted, with thousands of agents sent to the Twin Cities after right-wing influencers amplified a state fraud scandal involving Somali nationals. On the morning of January 7, Good, who had recently relocated to Minneapolis from Kansas City with her partner, Becca Good, stopped her SUV on Portland Avenue South as an immigration operation moved through the neighborhood and honked in support of neighbors, according to her family and bystander video. Ross approached the vehicle on foot, his face covered.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims recounted in this section come from civil complaints filed by Renee Good’s family, investigative reporting, and video analysis by news organizations. They were never admitted by Jonathan Ross, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. Ross has not personally responded to them in public; the Department of Homeland Security has defended the shooting as self-defense and has said Good “weaponized her vehicle.”

Bystander video and Ross’s own cellphone footage show Good briefly reversing, then moving forward and to the right as Ross — standing at the front-left of the turning vehicle — fired three shots, first into the windshield and then at close range through the open driver’s window. Analyses by The Associated Press and other outlets found Ross appeared to be standing out of the vehicle’s path when he opened fire, and witnesses told NBC News he did not seem to be in its direct path. Good was shot shortly after 9:30 a.m. and died at the scene. DHS, President Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Ross acted in self-defense, claimed Good had run him over, and described her conduct as “an act of domestic terrorism” — accounts contested by eyewitnesses, journalists, federal prosecutors and Democratic lawmakers.

In the months that followed, accountability processes stalled at every level. Ross was placed on three days of administrative leave; reporting by PunchUp, carried by the Daily Beast and NewsNation, said he was then quietly relocated out of Minnesota, assigned to administrative and demonstrative duties, and shielded from ICE’s own review, which officials said cannot begin until the FBI investigation concludes. In January, FBI supervisor Tracee Mergen resigned after leadership pressured her, she said, to abandon a civil-rights inquiry into Ross and reclassify it as a probe of Good; whistleblower accounts given to Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin allege FBI Director Kash Patel directed agents to reframe warrant language to portray Good as a suspect rather than a victim. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division did not open a civil-rights investigation, and acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson and five other Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the department’s push to investigate Good’s widow. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in July that the DOJ had turned evidence over to state investigators; no charges have been filed in Good’s killing or in that of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse shot by Border Patrol agents in the same operation seventeen days later.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The killing sparked national protests and a January 23 citywide “ICE Out of Minnesota” mobilization, and became a defining controversy of the surge. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries demanded a criminal investigation, and in April, New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly demanded to know where Ross was working after reports placed him at an ICE job in New York. The political fallout reached the top of the Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted and replaced by Markwayne Mullin, and ICE Director Todd Lyons resigned hours after telling a House subcommittee he would not comment on the active investigation. At least ten people have died in encounters with immigration officers during Trump’s second term.

Current Status

On October 1, 2026, Good’s partner, Becca Good, and her brother, Brent Ganger, filed two lawsuits in federal court in Minnesota. One, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, names the United States as sole defendant and alleges wrongful death premised on battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The other alleges a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and names Ross, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan and other officials, along with ten John Doe agents; family attorney Antonio Romanucci said the suits are “the beginning of the ultimate legal weapon in uncovering the truth behind this unlawful use of deadly force.” DHS said only that the incident “remains under investigation.” Ross remains an ICE employee; he has not been criminally charged, and the claims against him are unadjudicated.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Nine months after the shooting, Ross faces no criminal charge, no internal disciplinary process and no public accounting — only a three-day leave, a quiet cross-state reassignment and continued employment, an outcome that has made him a focal point of the national fight over immigration-enforcement accountability. The family’s lawsuits are the first forum in which the conduct behind the shooting will get sustained adversarial examination, and they keep pressure on an agency whose own officials told investigators the stalled FBI probe had left internal affairs hanging.

Sources

The New York Post, “Renee Good’s family sues US government, immigration officials over her killing in Minneapolis,” October 1, 2026. source
CNN, “Family of Renee Good sues US government and Trump officials over her death,” October 1, 2026. source
NBC News, “Renee Good’s family sues U.S. government, ICE officer and top Trump officials over her killing,” October 1, 2026. source
The Daily Beast, “ICE Agent Jonathan Ross Who Shot Dead Unarmed Mom Renee Good Quietly Reassigned as FBI Probe Stalls,” 2026. source
Wikipedia, “Killing of Renée Good.” source