Two thousand federal agents descended on Minneapolis on Jan. 6, 2026, an urban occupation framed as the "largest immigration operation ever." By the next morning, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was dead.
In the shadows of President Donald Trump's mass deportation blitz, a lethal pattern has emerged. Since July, immigration agents have shot at least six people behind the wheel of a vehicle (two of them fatal, including Wednesday's shooting). In each instance, the playbook is the same: the agent claims self-defense, asserting they "feared for their life" as a vehicle was "weaponized" against them.
Whether the use of lethal force in this case was lawful or unlawful should be decided by a jury in a civil damages case (and perhaps also a criminal prosecution of the agent who pulled the trigger, if warranted by the facts). But for the victims of constitutional violations by federal agents, the courthouse doors are effectively bolted shut.
While the facts of Good's death are still being determined, the DHS machinery is already in motion, churning out a narrative of "domestic terrorism" to sanitize the killing. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, "Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation," while DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed Good "weaponized her vehicle" to run over officers.
It's a familiar script.
This is a preview of Mike Fox's latest column. Read the full column here.
