Associated Press: Family of Renee Good says Trump hasn’t contacted them after her death
— Nearly two months after Renee Good was fatally shot by a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, her family says neither President Donald Trump nor any member of his administration has been in touch.
: Family says no outreach from Trump
Brent Ganger, Good’s brother, said, “There’s a reason that we hired our own investigators — to make sure that the truth is transparent and available, to make sure that this is really taken seriously and to make sure that we know what occurred. ” The family has emphasized that public accounts and official statements have differed from the version they believe the evidence will show, and they have intentionally not watched videos of the moment she was killed. “I can’t bring myself to do that, ” Brent Ganger said.
Autopsy details and the sequence of shots
A private autopsy commissioned by Good’s family found she was shot three times, including once in the left temple; a fourth shot grazed her. Family lawyers said one bullet hit her left forearm and another struck her right breast without piercing major organs, and that those wounds did not appear to have been immediately life-threatening. Lead attorney Antonio M. Romanucci said the family believes the evidence they are gathering will suffice to prove their case.
Federal probe, local investigators and resignations
Federal investigators have concentrated more on whether Good’s partner impeded a federal officer moments before the shooting than on the shooting itself or the officer who fired the fatal shots. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the officer who fired, Jonathan Ross, acted in self-defense and described Good as having “weaponized” her vehicle.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said it is not conducting a use-of-force investigation because it does not have full access to evidence and witnesses, and that it is assisting the Hennepin County district attorney’s office in collecting and cataloguing information and providing evidence to the FBI. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the agency remains open to conducting a full investigation should the U. S. Attorney’s Office and FBI reconsider and share all evidence and evidentiary reports held by FBI investigators. At least six prosecutors with the U. S. attorney’s office in Minnesota have resigned over concerns with the direction of the probe, and the Justice Department has opened an inquiry into public comments by Democratic politicians in Minnesota that officials have described as political.
The shooting set off weeks of protests in Minneapolis and was followed weeks later by the fatal shooting of another person, Alex Pretti, by federal officers. The family has received condolences from community members and others across the country while proceeding with their own legal and investigative steps.
In a separate interview, Tim Ganger, Good’s father, said he would have traded places with his daughter: “As her dad, my first instinct: I would trade a thousand times stepping in front of her to protect her. ” The family’s extended interview is scheduled to air Friday at 6: 30 p. m. ET on the evening news program that conducted the conversation, where viewers will hear more from Tim and Donna Ganger and Good’s brothers Brent and Luke.
Officials and the family are continuing investigations and public statements; the next confirmed public moment is the family’s televised interview Friday at 6: 30 p. m. ET.
