Minneapolis, MN
Buss: Response to Minneapolis shooting a moral failure
If another civil war were to break out in the United States, I imagine it would begin with an altercation similar to what took place in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
That’s what made the instantaneous and pejorative response to it by the Trump administration so jarring.
In an incident that recalls the National Guard shooting of student anti-war protesters at Kent State University in 1970, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and a mother of three. She had seemingly interjected herself into a major immigration enforcement operation that dispatched 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis at the direction of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
There is a dispute over whether the shooting was in self-defense, and the Trump administration has doubled down on defending the actions of the ICE officer, labeling Good a “domestic terrorist.” Vice President JD Vance alleged on Thursday that Good was part of a left-wing network.
But it’s hard to see the incident as anything other than a complete breakdown in moral clarity about responsibility and the limits of force by the government — and how it is discussed publicly before information could even be known.
Video shared online of the incident, allegedly taken by the officer involved, indicates the confrontation was already off to a bad start. Is filming, easily interpreted as a form of intimidation by law enforcement, standard training for ICE officers?
The ICE removal officer has been identified as Jonathan Ross, a former Army National Guard machine gunner and ex‑Border Patrol agent with extensive experience. He had been dragged by a suspect during a 2025 arrest.
Perhaps he should not have returned to active duty so quickly. The impetus is on law enforcement, whether police officers or ICE officers, to preserve life and contain an unruly and even reckless situation to the best of their ability.
Filming a potential suspect before a government-sanctioned interaction and then physically circling her vehicle to put oneself in danger calls his judgment into question.
Many questions remain about the confrontation, and no doubt instinctual psychology played a larger role in Good’s actions and in Ross’s than we will ever know.
But the immediate, callous response of Noem and Vance to this tragedy is part of a growing pattern of disregard for the collateral damage caused by implementing difficult, controversial policies. This cowboy culture that is causing serious division and violence on the nation’s streets needs to be called out and off.
Sometimes the government has to kill; it doesn’t appear that Good’s death was necessarily one of those instances. No death should ever be celebrated, or the victim castigated as a “deranged leftist,” as Vance called Good, an activist who was reportedly trained to aggressively confront ICE agents.
Despite the immediate escalation, it’s clear that while Good was driving in the opposite direction from Ross, the officer continued to shoot at her. Good lay in the driver’s seat, dying, while onlookers scream in horror.
Such a staunch and certain defense of the totality of his actions is indefensible.
No one — U.S. citizen or otherwise — should be gunned down on America’s streets this casually by agents of the government.
It also points to why perhaps immigration operations at the scale Noem directed in Minneapolis shouldn’t be deployed so provocatively. Such a confrontation was bound to occur.
Public safety requires restraint as much as it requires the enforcement of law and order.
When that restraint fails, it is the duty of the heads of government to call for patience, calm and the truth — and if necessary, take some responsibility.
Americans on all sides should demand accountability for Good’s death and a renewed commitment by the Trump administration to policies and practices that were written to prevent exactly this kind of tragedy.
Kaitlyn Buss’ columns appear in The Detroit News. Reach her at kbuss@detroitnews.com and follow her on X @KaitlynBuss.
Minneapolis, MN
Search for permanent Minneapolis police chief has not started yet, commissioner says
Minneapolis leaders say police reform work is continuing as the city prepares to start its search for a new permanent police chief.
The city has said little publicly about the search for a new permanent Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) chief since Chief Brian O’Hara resigned more than two weeks ago.
Brian O’Hara resigns as Minneapolis police chief after report shows he interfered with investigation into his conduct
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS asked for an update alongside a new progress report on state-mandated reform efforts released on Thursday from city public safety leaders, including Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette and MPD Bureau Chief Ganesha Martin, who said they are confident reform work will not slow down after O’Hara’s resignation.
“Not at all,” said Martin. “So, Chief Peterson has been highly engaged, very open, curious, wanting to make sure to get up to speed on all the things that we’re doing.”
“The majority of the process is already in place, so I don’t think that it impacts the work that’s being done,” said Barnette.
What happens next?
Barnette also addressed whether ongoing mandated reforms could affect the city’s ability to hire a new chief. He said the work ahead is significant, but said he believes it will still draw interest.
“It’s a heavy lift, but having transformational reform that we’re institutionalizing here in the city is exciting work to do,” said Barnette. “So, I think we’re going to attract a lot of candidates. I don’t think that’s going to persuade anybody from not coming.”
Barnette said the hiring process is still in its early stages, adding that city leaders are still deciding what the search will look like.
“We’re still, we’re not even two weeks in with Chief Peterson yet,” said Barnette.
“We’re just going through, looking at what we did in the former search, what things that the mayor wants to see in this search, and then what input we’re going to get along the way,” said Barnette.
Has the search started?
When asked whether the official search had started, Barnette said no. He also said the city has not started talking to people yet.
The fourth quarterly progress report from independent monitor Effective Law Enforcement for All (ELEFA) also called the hiring of a new chief “an opportunity.” The report found “significant weaknesses” in the former chief’s review process for misconduct investigations.
Barnette said the city will begin the official search for a permanent chief “pretty soon.”
Below is a statement from Interim Chief Bill Peterson on the release of the fourth ELEFA report:
You can view the full ELEFA report below:
A new survey shows which celebrity young people would most like to be. Plus, a Minnesota company is trying to make leasing hunting land easier. And we deep dive into why gas prices are vastly different even across town.
Minneapolis police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing 10-year-old boy last seen in north Minneapolis.
Jayceon Rogers, of Brooklyn Park, was last seen on the 2500 block of Sixth Street North around 5 p.m. on Sunday, police said. He was wearing a white T-shirt and beige jogging pants.
Rogers is 6 feet, 4 inches and about 80 pounds. Police say he has brown eyes and black dreadlocks with red and orange tips.
If you see Rogers, call 911.
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