Trump calls Renee Good a ‘solid, wonderful person’ while defending ICE in Minneapolis shooting

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump spoke with CBS Evening News about the recent fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minnesota.

Trump offered his view of Good and defended the federal agency involved, giving insight into his administration’s stance as the nation reacts to the incident.

Trump’s comments on Renee Nicole Good shooting

In an interview with anchor Tony Dokoupil aired on Tuesday, January 13, Trump addressed the deadly encounter that resulted in the death of Good. During the interview, Dokoupil brought up a personal appeal from Good’s father, Timothy Ganger, who is a supporter of Trump but is now devastated by his daughter’s death. 

Dokoupil said, “I've got an important question about the situation in Minnesota. The death of Renee Nicole Good. I've been speaking to her father, who is a big supporter of yours like many Americans are. But he's heartbroken right now.” To that, Trump responded, “I can understand that, yeah.”

The host then referenced how Ganger was upset that the administration had quickly characterized his daughter as “a domestic t*rrorist,” and asked, “What do you wanna say to her father right now?” 

In reply, Trump said, “Well, I wanna say to the father that I love all of our people. They can be on the other side. As you say, he might be on my side.” He then said, “bet” Good was, “under normal circumstances, a very solid, wonderful person.” 

However, he added that “her actions were pretty tough” in the moments leading up to the shooting. Defending ICE, he said that It is “working very hard” to arrest and deport individuals under the federal government’s enforcement campaign, but that their work has been made “very, very difficult.”

Trump had earlier asserted that Good was “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting,” but his account has been sharply challenged by local officials, who condemned ICE’s actions and labeled the shooting unjustified.

Minneapolis shooting and ICE defense

Trump also acknowledged that the video could be interpreted in multiple ways, saying, “When you look at that tape, it, it can be viewed two ways, I guess. But when you look at the way … that car was pulled away, there are a couple versions of that tape that are very, very bad."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures' that the administration is sending additional federal personnel to Minnesota to enhance security for ICE and Border Patrol officials already operating in the state. 

Noem said the extra deployment is meant to support agents working under difficult conditions and help ensure their safety, and she noted that roughly 2,000 federal officers have already been dispatched to the area as part of what DHS has described as its largest enforcement operation to date.

According to a report in The New York Times, federal investigators do not expect to pursue criminal charges against Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent identified as the shooter in the fatal encounter with Good.

Noem’s announcement of increased federal presence came amid widespread demonstrations over the government’s immigration enforcement efforts following the shooting.

More than 1,000 rallies were held nationwide, including large gatherings in Minneapolis, where protesters objected to both the federal deportation campaign and the use of force against Good.