Following the shooting and death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the federal government transferred full control of the investigation to the FBI.
Initially, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), generally considered the state-level equivalent of the FBI, planned to collaborate with federal authorities to investigate the fatal shooting.
However, federal officials — specifically the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI — reversed course, deciding that the FBI would lead the investigation. Consequently, state investigators are unable to access evidence, scene materials, or witness interviews.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said Minnesota’s agency “reluctantly withdrew” from the investigation because it couldn’t conduct an independent probe without access to evidence and interviews.
A statement attributed to Evans and posted on the BCA’s website reads:
On Jan. 7, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was notified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel were involved in a shooting in Minneapolis that resulted in a woman’s death. That morning, after consultation with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, it was decided that the BCA Force Investigations Unit would conduct a joint investigation with the FBI. The BCA responded promptly to the scene and began coordinating investigative work in good faith.
Later that afternoon, the FBI informed the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.
Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation. The BCA Force Investigations Unit was designed to ensure consistency, accountability and public confidence, none of which can be achieved without full cooperation and jurisdictional clarity.
The BCA Force Investigations Unit was created in 2020 by the legislature to provide an independent, consistent and trusted mechanism for investigating use of force incidents involving law enforcement officers. This unit is the result of years of scrutiny, public engagement and bipartisan legislative action following the Deadly Force Encounters Working Group. Minnesotans made it clear that they expect a transparent and thorough process when a peace officer uses deadly force in our state, and the BCA has earned their trust by delivering on that expectation.
We expect the FBI to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and that the full investigative file will be shared with the appropriate prosecutorial authorities at both the state and federal levels.
The BCA remains fully committed to our partnerships to build public trust in use of deadly force investigations. If the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI were to reconsider this approach and express a willingness to resume a joint investigation, the BCA is prepared to reengage in support of our shared goal of public safety in Minnesota.
Local, state, and national leaders — most notably Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — have opposed the decision to exclude state investigators and have challenged the federal account. Frey went so far as to tell ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis” after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labeled the incident an “act of domestic terrorism.”
The shooting has sparked widespread protests and confrontations in Minneapolis and other cities.
Democratic lawmakers have condemned both the killing and the lack of cooperation with state authorities.
Senior federal officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Noem, have characterized the shooting as a justified act of self-defense by an ICE agent. Although opponents on both sides have expressed uncompromising opinions before the investigation is complete, a more nuanced debate has emerged with conflicting viewpoints from commenters, pundits, and experts regarding the legality and proportionality of the response.
As Mediaite reported, MS NOW anchor Ana Cabrera spoke with the network’s senior national security correspondent, David Rohde, about the latest developments in the investigation:
According to Rohde, this was “very, very unusual” for what “initially was going to be a joint investigation” with the state and federal authorities, but now the FBI had “reversed course” and would be handling the investigation on its own.
The assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania and the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk were both joint local and federal investigations, said Rohde, “and that’s how most investigations like this go forward,” because “there are sources and resources that local law enforcement has that the federal government doesn’t.”
The Minnesota BCA officials were saying that “they are not going to be allowed to talk to witnesses,” and “not going to get access to basic, it seems, investigatory material,” continued Rohde, again calling it “very, very unusual.”
“And to be honest,” he added, “given the politically charged environment, that’s just going to cause more suspicion, more partisan division. And I think it’s really bad. One of the positive things about law enforcement investigations are when they are transparent. And that doesn’t appear to be happening here.”
New York Times reporters reported that during a conversation with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, they addressed concerns regarding conflicting accounts and the ambiguous nature of videos circulating on social media.
“She behaved horribly,” Trump responded. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.”
Pressed by the reporters, Trump had one of his aides pull up the video he posted on a laptop. “I’ll play the tape for you right now,” the president said.
The Times reporters said they told Trump the angle did not appear to show an ICE officer had been run over.
“Well,” Trump said. “I — the way I look at it … ”
“It’s a terrible scene,” he added, noting that he found it difficult and upsetting to watch.
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I’m gonna ‘speculate’ that foul mouth jake would have been a whole lot happier if she had run over and killed or maimed a couple pf agents. He DID say he wants them out of ‘his’ city after all.
I’m almost 79 years old, so I can remember when any politician, or any newscaster, who publicly used profane language, would immediately be considered an outcast and would soon lose their job.
Think back to what almost happened to John Cameron Swazy ( I probably spelled the name wrong ) when the first taped newscast was put on the air and the wrong tape was run where there was a ‘goof-up’. That first tape was supposed to be destroyed, but instead, the second tape was put to the side and the wrong one was run on the air with the rather mild explative.
Some people tried to have him kicked off of the air!
But now …. ! Disgusting!
I supposed that this is what this country has come to.
I agree with you. Its a sign of the times due to an economy that is turning to crap. It now requires 2 incomes to do what a single include did in the 50’s through 70’s. So kids grow up with no parents to guide them. They pick up crap on the street, entertainment on tv, movies, internet, and use that same thing as reality. There no longer is respect for anything.
The Democrats forced this to happen so they could stir up the useful idiots again. They have blood on their hands now.
This is an attempt to throw up a smoke screen to hide $Billions of fraud that were taken from the American Tax Payers.
Mn. police are not allowed to have access to this ‘probe’? Hummmm.
Since their governor, and most of the government of that state, are rather far left lib, it’s probable that their conclusions would be quite biased.
The American people want the truth, not some lib point of view of this event.
We’ve been lied to far too much to take anymore lies from such a biased administration as is found in Mn., or as found in many other states for that matter.
1. Is ICE a law enforcement agency with certified LEO agents? 2. Were they conducing a lawful operation in MInneapolis? 3. did 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good purposely block their path wih her vehicle and refuse to move. 4. Was she argumentative when the agents told he to move. 5. Did she comply? 6. Were there 3 ICE agents in front of and beside her vehicle? 7. Did it apper that her front wheel drive wheels were turning while they were still pointed at the agent in front of her vehicle. 8. Was the ICE agent in front of her vehicle in iminent danger to being run over by her as she spun her wheels? 9. If so, did he take the appropriate action in the milliseconds before the vehicle caught traction and moved further forward endangering himself and the other two ICE officers? 10. Who caused this death, the ICE agent operating under orders and within the law or 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good who atempted to use her vehicle to physically harm the agent?
The woman was and activist member of Icewatch, a leftist organization dedicated to the obstrruction of immigration enforcement. She had repeatedly parked her car to prevent ICE convoys from moving through the city. This time she got too close and was detained. Instead of obeying commands, she panicked and nearly ran over the ICE officer. It was a terrible outcome, but one that the resulted from the incitement of Walz and Frey and the woman’s personal bad choices.
I think its because they can not be trusted to be fair.