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Gabinete de los Horrores: Jonathan Ross -- ICE Deportation Officer, Minneapolis

Published by: Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Last Updated: 2026-02-12
Confidence: HIGH -- 20+ sources across Tier 1-2 outlets, video evidence (including Ross's own cellphone footage), autopsy findings, court records, military service records, Congressional testimony, and reporting from local and national outlets

Summary

Killed a U.S. Citizen Who Was Driving Away From Him

Ross shot Renee Good three times -- including once in the left temple -- while she was turning her steering wheel away from him. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled it homicide. No charges filed. The government called her a "domestic terrorist."

Jonathan E. Ross, 43, is an Iraq War veteran and ICE deportation officer who, on January 7, 2026, shot and killed Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old American woman and mother of three, during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.

Good had just dropped her son at school. She encountered a federal immigration operation on a residential street, stopped her car, and interacted with agents. Video from Ross's own cellphone shows Good smiling at the officer moments before the shooting. Multiple bystander videos and forensic analysis show that Good turned her steering wheel to the right -- away from Ross -- as she began to drive forward. Ross, standing at the front-left of the vehicle and outside its path of travel, fired three shots. The first went through the windshield. The second went through the open driver's-side window. The third struck Good in the left temple and killed her.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide. Five use-of-force experts interviewed by the Star Tribune questioned Ross's decision to shoot at a moving vehicle, with some calling it a "bad shooting." The DHS claimed Good committed "an act of domestic terrorism" and that Ross acted in self-defense. Vice President JD Vance claimed Ross had "absolute immunity." The DOJ declined to open a civil rights investigation.

Six federal prosecutors resigned rather than investigate Good's widow as the DOJ demanded. An FBI supervisor resigned after being pressured to discontinue her probe into Ross. Eight more prosecutors subsequently departed. No criminal charges have been filed against Jonathan Ross. He is reportedly "in hiding." See the federal agent conduct pattern report for how this case fits a broader pattern.

Background

Personal History

  • Born approximately 1982-1983 (age 43 as of January 2026)
  • Grew up in Peoria, Illinois
  • Graduated from Richwoods High School, Peoria, in 2001

Military Service (2002-2008)

  • Enlisted in the Indiana Army National Guard in 2002
  • Deployed to Iraq from November 2004 to November 2005 with Headquarters Company, 138th Signal Battalion
  • Stationed in Ramadi during a period of heavy fighting
  • Served as a machine gunner on a combat logistical patrol team
  • Awards: Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal
  • Spoke at a "Support the Troops" event hosted by the College Republicans at Anderson University in Indiana in April 2006
  • Honorably discharged in 2008

Education

  • Graduated from Anderson University (Indiana) with a degree in business administration and psychology (2007)

Law Enforcement Career (2007-Present)

  • 2007: Joined U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas
  • 2007-2015: Served as a field intelligence agent with Border Patrol, gathering and analyzing information on drug cartels and human traffickers
  • 2015: Joined ICE as a deportation officer based in Minnesota, focused on identifying and arresting "higher value targets"
  • Additional roles: member of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force; firearms instructor; field intelligence officer
  • Described by a colleague as "a thorough agent who would go down rabbit holes in search of undocumented migrants"
  • DHS described Ross as "a longtime ICE officer who has been serving his country his entire life"

Prior Incident -- June 17, 2025

On June 17, 2025, during the apprehension of Roberto Carlos Munoz-Guatemala in Bloomington, Minnesota, Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle as Munoz tried to flee. Ross was dragged approximately 100 yards down the street before freeing himself. He was treated at a hospital for injuries including cuts that required 33 stitches.

This incident is significant because it established a pattern in Ross's mind: a vehicle-related encounter in which he was injured. When he encountered Good's SUV six months later, he may have been primed to perceive a greater threat than existed. (Note: this is an analytical inference, not a verified claim.)

(Sources: NBC News; WBUR; Star Tribune; MPR News; Newsweek; IPM Newsroom; court records)

The Killing -- January 7, 2026

Context

Operation Metro Surge launched on December 4, 2025, deploying up to 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis-St. Paul -- the largest domestic immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. The operation was described as targeting undocumented Somali immigrants but resulted in the detention of restaurant workers, airport workers, Target employees, students, legal residents, Native Americans, and U.S. citizens.

January 7 was the second day of the active enforcement phase. Good's neighborhood in South Minneapolis was an area of active federal operations.

Sequence of Events

Good's movements: Good had just dropped her six-year-old son at school. She encountered the federal operation on a residential street in the Central neighborhood, just after 9:30 AM.

The initial encounter: Good's burgundy SUV was stopped sideways in the street, perpendicular to the flow of traffic. Her partner, Becca Good, was also present.

Ross approaches the vehicle: Video from Ross's own cellphone shows him walking across the front of the car toward the driver's side without saying anything. The video captures Good smiling at the officer moments before the shooting.

Interaction at the driver's-side window: Agents ordered Good to exit the vehicle. Agents reached through the open driver's-side window.

Good's partner shouts: Becca Good shouted: "Drive, baby, drive!"

Good begins to move forward: Good put the car in gear and began to drive forward while turning her steering wheel to the right -- away from Ross and in the correct direction of traffic on the one-way street.

Ross fires: Ross, positioned at the front-left of the vehicle, drew his weapon. His video captures what sounds like him shouting "whoa." He fired three shots:
1. Shot 1: Through the windshield (non-fatal)
2. Shot 2: Through the open driver's-side window, striking Good's left forearm and right breast (non-fatal)
3. Shot 3: Through the left temple -- the fatal shot. The bullet passed through Good's head and exited on the right side.

A fourth bullet grazed Good's body (non-fatal).

Critical Video Evidence

Bystander video from behind Good's SUV: Shows Ross was NOT in the path of the vehicle when he fired. He was standing to the left of the car, outside its line of travel.

New York Times forensic analysis: While a grainy, low-resolution video from further down the street appeared to show Ross being struck by Good's SUV, the closer bystander video from behind showed that Ross was not run over. He crossed to the left of the SUV, opened fire while its wheels were pointed to the right -- away from him -- and continued shooting as she drove past.

Ross's own cellphone video: Captured audio of gunshots but does not show the actual moment of the shooting. However, it shows the interaction moments before and establishes Good was not behaving aggressively.

Lawfare analysis: "Even if Ross's deadly force was justified in the moment he fired his weapon, what much of the nation has now seen was not professionalized or situationally appropriate law enforcement. It was a series of incredibly bad choices leading to an unnecessary death."

(Sources: CNN (multiple articles); NBC News; Star Tribune; Lawfare; New York Times video analysis; MPR News; WTTW; The Intercept; Advocate.com)

Autopsy Findings

Independent Autopsy (Commissioned by Good's Family)

  • Graze wound (non-fatal)
  • Left forearm wound (non-fatal)
  • Right breast wound (non-fatal)
  • Left temple wound -- FATAL (bullet passed through head, exited on the right side)

Hennepin County Medical Examiner

  • Cause of death: Gunshot wounds
  • Manner of death: HOMICIDE
  • Three shots plus one graze wound

Use-of-Force Expert Assessment

Five use-of-force experts interviewed by the Star Tribune questioned Ross's decision to shoot at a moving vehicle. Some called it a "bad shooting." Shooting at moving vehicles is widely recognized as dangerous and ineffective, and many law enforcement agencies prohibit or heavily restrict the practice.

(Sources: NBC News; FOX 9; Star Tribune; MPR News)

The Government's Lies

Every Major Government Claim Was Contradicted by Video Evidence

DHS called Good a "domestic terrorist." JD Vance claimed Ross had "absolute immunity." Stephen Miller claimed agents "have immunity." Video shows Good was driving away from Ross when he fired.

Claim: Good "rammed" agents / committed "an act of domestic terrorism"

  • DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said it was "an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents"
  • DHS justified the shooting by claiming Good was engaged in "an act of domestic terrorism"

Reality: Video shows Good turning her steering wheel away from Ross. Ross was standing outside the vehicle's path of travel. Good was smiling at the officer moments before the encounter turned deadly.

Claim: Ross acted in "self-defense" / "feared for his life"

  • Federal officials claimed Ross feared for his life
  • VP JD Vance: Good's death was "a tragedy of her own making"

Reality: Bystander video shows Ross was not in the path of the vehicle when he fired. He opened fire while Good's wheels were turned away from him.

Claim: Ross was "run over" and "recovering in hospital"

  • Federal officials said Ross was injured and hospitalized

Reality: The New York Times analysis concluded Ross was not run over. He crossed to the left of the SUV and fired from a position outside its path of travel.

Claim: Ross has "absolute immunity"

  • VP JD Vance suggested Ross was protected by "absolute immunity"
  • Stephen Miller: ICE agents "have immunity to fulfill their duties"

Reality: Legal experts universally rejected this claim. There is no blanket federal immunity for law enforcement officers. Scholars note federal officials may be prosecuted if they acted beyond the scope of their duties, violated federal law, or behaved in an egregious manner.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reviewed the footage and said: "That is bullshit."

(Sources: CNN; NBC News; Star Tribune; CBS News; FOX 9; The Intercept; Democracy Now!)

Investigation and Accountability -- Systematically Obstructed

Federal Investigation: Controlled and Closed

15 Federal Officials Resigned Rather Than Cover Up the Killing

Six prosecutors, the senior leadership of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, one FBI supervisor, and eight additional prosecutors all resigned -- many explicitly citing the DOJ's refusal to investigate Ross and its pressure to investigate Good's widow instead.

  • January 8: FBI revoked Minnesota BCA's access to evidence, taking sole control of the investigation
  • Initial agreement: BCA and FBI were to investigate jointly
  • FBI reversed course: In coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI informed the BCA it would lead the probe alone
  • BCA "reluctantly withdrew" from the investigation
  • DOJ declined to open a civil rights investigation into whether Good's rights were violated
  • Assistant AG for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon decided not to investigate
  • Deputy AG Todd Blanche: "There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation"

State Efforts Blocked

  • Minnesota BCA denied access to Ross's gun, Good's vehicle, and all physical evidence
  • Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty requested the public submit evidence on January 9
  • On February 2, Moriarty served Touhy letters on DOJ/DHS demanding federal evidence by February 17
  • AG Keith Ellison: A closed-off federal investigation is "a recipe for no confidence in whatever outcome they have"
  • Ellison, along with Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed suit against DHS to halt ICE deployments

The Resignations

Six federal prosecutors resigned from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office, including:
- Joseph Thompson (second in command) -- objected to the criminal investigation of Becca Good (Renee's widow) and to "the department's reluctance to investigate the shooter"
- Harry Jacobs
- Melinda Williams
- Thomas Calhoun-Lopez
- Two additional prosecutors (names not publicly reported)

Their reasons: DOJ leadership pressured them to investigate Good's widow and her connections to activist groups, while simultaneously blocking any investigation of Ross.

DOJ Civil Rights Division mass departures: The criminal section chief, principal deputy chief, deputy chief, and acting deputy chief all resigned, along with other prosecutors, over the decision not to investigate Good's killing.

FBI supervisor Tracee Mergen resigned after being pressured by the FBI's Washington bureau to discontinue her probe into Ross.

Eight more prosecutors subsequently left the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "The people pushing to prosecute Renee's widow are monsters."

(Sources: NPR; NBC News; KSTP; The Hill; FOX 9; Democracy Now!; Newsweek; Lawfare; CBS News; Minnesota Reformer)

Family Response

Good's Widow, Becca Good

"Renee had stopped to support our neighbors" when she was fatally shot during an exchange of words on a residential street.

Family Actions

  • Commissioned an independent autopsy
  • Brothers testified before Congress at a DHS use-of-force forum
  • Retained legal counsel
  • Shared evidence publicly
  • A permanent street-side memorial was established on Portland Avenue in South Minneapolis

Memorials

  • January 10: Candlelight vigil at Lincoln-Douglas Square in Alton, Illinois
  • January 30: "Defend Minnesota" benefit concert held in Minneapolis, featuring Tom Morello, Rise Against, and Bruce Springsteen. All proceeds went to the families of Good and Alex Pretti.
  • February 7: One month after the killing, thousands gathered at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis

(Sources: CNN; NBC News; Star Tribune; Wikipedia)

Notable Silence

Jonathan Ross has made no public statements about the killing of Renee Good. He has not testified publicly. He has not been deposed in any proceeding related to her death.

He is reportedly "in hiding," according to White House border czar Tom Homan.

Homan stated that Ross "might file a defamation suit" against critics -- suggesting the administration views Ross as the aggrieved party.

(Sources: Newsweek; NBC News)

Assessment

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, after reviewing the footage

"That is bullshit."

Jonathan Ross killed Renee Good on the second day of Operation Metro Surge while she was driving away from him with her steering wheel turned to the right. He was standing outside the path of her vehicle. He fired through her windshield, through her open window, and into her temple.

The system responded by:
- Calling Good a domestic terrorist
- Claiming Ross had absolute immunity
- Taking sole control of the investigation and excluding state investigators
- Declining to open a civil rights investigation
- Pressuring prosecutors to investigate Good's widow instead of her killer
- Pressuring an FBI supervisor to drop her investigation of Ross
- Creating conditions under which six prosecutors, the senior leadership of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, one FBI supervisor, and eight additional prosecutors all resigned

Every institution that could have held Ross accountable was either blocked, co-opted, or driven to resign. This is not a failure of accountability. It is the active construction of impunity.

Ross's prior incident -- being dragged by a vehicle six months earlier -- may help explain his psychology in the moment. It does not justify shooting a woman who was driving away from him. The video evidence is clear. The autopsy is clear. The medical examiner's finding is clear: homicide.

No charges. No investigation. No accountability. Renee Good is counted among the dead.

Confidence Level: HIGH. Core facts verified through Ross's own cellphone video, multiple bystander videos, forensic video analysis (NYT, CNN), official autopsy findings, medical examiner's homicide ruling, court records, and reporting from 20+ independent sources across Tier 1 and Tier 2 outlets.

Sources

Tier 1 (Primary/Investigative)

Tier 2 (Reliable Journalism)

Reference

This dossier is part of the Gabinete de los Horrores (Cabinet of Horrors), documenting named officials responsible for policies and actions that have led to deaths, civil rights violations, and the construction of the deportation machine.

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT -- public sources only