Say their names. Alex Pretti. Renee Macklin Good. Both U.S. citizens. Both killed by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration's ICE surge in Minneapolis. Neither was undocumented. Neither was a target of the operation. And months later, the federal government is actively blocking the state from investigating either death.
This is not a hypothetical abuse of power. This is not a warning about what could happen. It already happened. The government killed its own citizens, called one of them a terrorist to cover it up, and then shrink-wrapped the dead woman's car and put it in a warehouse where it has sat, unexamined, for months.
What Happened
During the Minneapolis ICE surge, federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti — a U.S. citizen — in a confrontation with Border Patrol agents. In a separate incident, ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Macklin Good — also a U.S. citizen — through her car windshield. A third person, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, was shot by an ICE officer and survived. The Justice Department later charged him with assault, then dropped the charges after video showed he had dropped the shovel-like object before being shot. DHS confirmed two officers in that incident had "made untruthful statements" and placed them on administrative leave.
After Pretti's death, the Department of Homeland Security labeled him a domestic terrorist and said federal officers shot him because they feared for their safety. Video evidence contradicts that account. DHS has not retracted the domestic terrorist label. No officers have been disciplined. DHS did not respond when NPR asked whether any officers involved in the Pretti or Good killings have faced any disciplinary action.
The Evidence Coverup
In late March, Minnesota and Hennepin County sued the Trump administration for withholding evidence in all three shootings. The state says federal agents initially agreed to work with them at the scenes of the Good and Sosa-Celis shootings — then later took control of the evidence and cut off state investigators. At the Pretti shooting, federal authorities physically blocked state investigators from accessing the scene entirely.
The evidence Minnesota cannot access includes Pretti's cell phone. It includes information about the immigration officers present at each shooting, including ICE officer Jonathan Ross — who shot Good through her windshield — his training records, personnel file, and any prior disciplinary history. And it includes Renee Good's car, which is currently shrink-wrapped in an FBI warehouse where it has never been examined.
A U.S. citizen was shot through her windshield by a federal agent. Her car is sitting in an FBI warehouse, wrapped in plastic. No one has examined it. The people who killed her are still working.
The Non-Answers
DHS told NPR the Justice Department is leading an investigation into Pretti's death. The DOJ did not respond to NPR's request for comment. As for Renee Good, DHS said in a statement that "the matter remains under investigation." No timeline. No accountability. No acknowledgment that Jonathan Ross has faced any consequences whatsoever for shooting a U.S. citizen through her car window during an immigration operation she had nothing to do with.
These are not complicated situations requiring years of legal analysis. Federal agents killed two American citizens. Video evidence in at least one case contradicts the official government narrative. The state of Minnesota wants to investigate and the federal government is physically blocking that investigation. The car of a dead American woman is sitting in an FBI warehouse wrapped in plastic. This is a coverup.
Why This Matters Beyond Minneapolis
The Minneapolis deaths are not an isolated incident. They are the visible consequence of deploying thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents into civilian neighborhoods under a political mandate to show action, at any cost, with any target. When you flood the zone with agents empowered to use force, trained to treat everyone as a potential threat, and accountable to political bosses rather than local law enforcement — this is what you get. Americans die. And then the government lies about it, buries the evidence, and waits for the story to fade.
It hasn't faded. There are flowers and handwritten notes at Alex Pretti's memorial. Green grass is growing through the snow at Renee Good's. Their families are still waiting for answers. Minnesota is still suing. And the people who killed them are still on the job.
Sources
- NPR: Pretti and Good identified as U.S. citizens killed by federal agents; Minnesota and Hennepin County lawsuit; Good's car shrink-wrapped in FBI warehouse; DHS "domestic terrorist" label for Pretti; video evidence contradiction; officer Jonathan Ross identified; DHS non-response to discipline questions.