My cold take on the Renee Good shooting
Multiple poor decisions by Renee Good and Immigration and Customs Enforcement led to this avoidable tragedy.
Having watched all the available videos (here is a side by side of the two most circulated videos) to date preceding the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer now identified as Jonathan Ross, including the POV video taken by Ross, I remain convinced that this was a preventable tragedy.
Good, it has been widely reported now, was part of a group, ICE Watch, that taught it’s members to de-arrest (which isn’t a thing) people taken into ICE custody and to obstruct when possible. Taking action like this does place one in legal jeopardy as a judge in Wisconsin recently discovered. She decided to drive instead of get out of the car. I don’t believe her intent was to hit an ICE officer based on her putting her vehicle in reverse and turning the wheel. I don’t and can’t know this for certain, however, and we’ll never know.
At least from two of the videos (front view and POV) it appears the officer did have some contact with the SUV, the video taken behind the SUV that doesn’t appear to be the case.
ICE falls under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and their Use of Force policy states that “A DHS LEO may use deadly force only when the LEO has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the LEO or to another person.”
It also states that deadly force can not be used to stop a person from fleeing unless the DHS LEO has “has a reasonable belief that the subject poses a significant threat of death or serious physical harm to the LEO or others and such force is necessary to prevent escape.”
The policy then addresses firing at a moving vehicle:
DHS LEOs are prohibited from discharging firearms at the operator of a moving vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other conveyance unless the use of deadly force against the operator is justified under the standards articulated elsewhere in this policy. Before using deadly force under these circumstances, the LEO must take into consideration the hazards that may be posed to law enforcement and innocent bystanders by an out-of-control conveyance.
Additionally, a senior DHS official told NBC News that “ICE officers are trained to never approach a vehicle from the front and instead to approach in a ‘tactical L’ 90-degree angle to prevent injury or cross-fire.”
The U.S. Department of Justice has similar guidance for its law enforcement officers when engaging vehicles (emphasis mine):
Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically, firearms may not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless: (1) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or (2) the vehicle is operated in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury to the officer or others, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of the path of the vehicle. Firearms may not be discharged from a moving vehicle except in exigent circumstances. In these situations, an officer must have an articulable reason for this use of deadly force.
The policy also addresses the use of safe tactics:
DHS LEOs should seek to employ tactics and techniques that effectively bring an incident under control while promoting the safety of LEOs and the public, and that minimize the risk of unintended injury or serious property damage. DHS LEOs should also avoid intentionally and unreasonably placing themselves in positions in which they have no alternative to using deadly force.
I share all of this to say that while this shooting will likely be determined to be justified and Ross cleared of potential criminal jeopardy it isn’t reasonable to say he handled this situation well.
He could have stepped away from the vehicle. He never should have been in front of it to begin with, and he certainly shouldn’t have been holding a cell phone taking video. Shooting Good didn’t stop the vehicle, in fact it made the SUV crash into another vehicle where, thankfully, there were no bystanders. It was reckless. I also question whether the second and third shots were necessary since he was out of the SUV’s path at that time.
I also question whether ICE needed to intervene at all. Two vehicles passed Good before the truck with ICE officers stopped and got out with one officer saying, “Get the f_ck out,” while attempting to open the door while another, according to an eyewitness, ordered her to drive away.
I have seen some people state that Good and her spouse, I believe, were taunting the ICE officers. So what? They are trained, professional law enforcement officers. They should act like it. They are held to a higher standard. They can’t lose their cool and they made no attempt to de-escalate the situation which presented no threat before they stopped their vehicle. DHS policy calls for officers to attempt to de-escalate situations.
You can respect law enforcement and still question their actions and behavior. They must be held accountable, not to just the law they are called to uphold, but their department policies and training as well.
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, and I hope that they are. In the meantime, we need calm and reason, especially from our elected officials who on the left and right have failed to deliver.