Feds oust Minnesota investigators from ICE shooting probe

MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration ousted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis, the head of the BCA said Thursday, Jan. 8.

The BCA is the investigative arm of the state Department of Public Safety and typically investigates officer shootings.

The FBI did not immediately return a request for comment.

BCA Superintendent Drew Evans, in a statement Thursday, said the agency consulted with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, and the BCA’s Force Investigations Unit began conducting a joint investigation with the FBI.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the FBI told the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had “reversed course,” according to the BCA statement. That means the BCA will no longer have access to the case materials or the ability to conduct interviews to complete a thorough investigation.

“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” Evans said. “As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation.”

Gov. Tim Walz during a Thursday press conference expressed doubt about the results of any investigation conducted by the federal government because Minnesota officials have been purposefully excluded.

“Now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation, it feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome,” Walz said. “People in positions of power have already passed judgment — from the president, to the vice president to (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem — (and) have stood and told you things that are verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate.”

Expelling the BCA is the latest maneuver in an ongoing conflict between the Trump administration and the state of Minnesota and has already drawn sharp criticism from local officials.

Video of the Wednesday incident shared with the Reformer shows masked ICE officers approach a Honda Pilot stopped in the middle of Portland Avenue near 34th Street in Minneapolis. One officer tells Good to “get out of the f****** car” and tries to open the door. Good then slowly backs up and then pulls forward, appearing to try to leave. An officer at the front of the vehicle fires three shots and the SUV travels a short distance before crashing into a parked car.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said that without access to all the evidence, law enforcement can’t produce a quality investigation for a prosecutor to determine whether anyone should be charged with a state crime.

“For us to be able to do that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without cooperation from the federal government to file state charges,” Jacobson said.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt on X said the federal government denying access to evidence was “deeply concerning.”

“This move from the federal government to remove our state BCA from the investigation of yesterday’s homicide in South Minneapolis is deeply concerning,” Witt said. “This investigation needs to be carried out with transparency, fairness, and without political influence.”

Walz said that Minnesota “must be part of this investigation.”

More than 100 multi-faith religious leaders called on the FBI to release evidence to Minnesota investigators at a press conference at the site of Good’s shooting Thursday afternoon.

“Federal badges do not put anyone above the law,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, co-director of the progressive religious group ISAIAH.

The clergy also called on Congress to investigate the shooting and for ICE to leave the state.

Reformer reporter Madison McVan contributed to this story.

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