After days of claiming Renee Nicole Good was a “domestic terrorist,’ President Donald Trump has slightly changed his public narrative vis-a-vis her shooting.
CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil asked Trump what he would say to Good’s father, a Trump supporter. The president had a semi-positive response.
Trump has previously said that Good “violently, willfully and viciously” ran over an ICE officer, Jonathan Ross, who shot her in self-defense. The administration has stuck to this narrative until recently released footage challenged their claims.
Highlights
- Trump shifted his tone, calling Renee Good a 'very solid, wonderful person' but described her actions during the shooting as 'pretty tough.'
- Video footage challenges Trump's initial claims, showing Good's tires turned away and her calmly saying, 'I'm not mad at you' to ICE officer Ross.
- Trump acknowledged the shooting video 'can be viewed two ways' but maintained support for ICE's role in removing criminals from the country.
- Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem defended officer Ross's actions, stating he followed specialized training despite questions about using deadly force.
Trump changed his narrative on Good in a statement to her father
Image credits: Michael Tessier/CBS News via Getty Images
Trump now said Good’s actions “were pretty tough,” before adding the video of her fatal shooting “can be viewed two ways.”
“I want to say to the father that I love all our people. They can be on the other side,” Trump told CBS. “I would bet you that she under normal circumstances, she was a very solid, wonderful person, but her actions were pretty tough.”
Trump continued, talking about ICE, “And I’ve seen it many ways and many different shapes and forms. But the bottom line is, look, we have hundreds of thousands of murderers in our countries, killers. ICE is trying to get them out."
CBS asked Trump whether he believes deadly force should have been used against Good. They also mentioned Good’s wife, Becca Good. “The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement,” Trump said. “Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff.”
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
Trump then talked about video footage from the scene, saying, “When you look at that tape, it can be viewed two ways, I guess.” He added, “But when you look at the way that car was pulled away, there were a couple of versions of that tape that are very, very bad.”
Right after the shooting, Trump had written on Truth Social, “I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch.”
“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing, and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.”
Good’s neighbors refuted the allegation made by the Trump administration that she had been “stalking” ICE, although one person who knew her said she was part of a network aimed at disrupting ICE activity across Minneapolis.
A video from Ross’ bodycam, as well as a witness video later released, appears to show that Good’s tires were turned away from the agents. It also shows Good smiling at Ross, saying, “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you.”
Ross tells Good to stop as she attempts to drive away. Another woman, believed to be Good’s wife, can be heard speaking to Ross as he continues to film the vehicle.
“Hey – show your face, big boy,” she says, “We don’t change our plates every morning, just so you know. It will be the same plate when you come talk to us later.”
Trump called Good a "very solid, wonderful person" before calling her actions "pretty tough"
She can then be heard telling Good, “Drive, baby, drive.”
But as Good pulls away, Ross fires multiple shots through the side window at her and calls her a “f*****g b***h.”
Vice President JD Vance then implied the facts were irrelevant because the shooter was “doing his job.”
CNN law enforcement analyst John Miller also noted that Ross had defied training given to regular police never to stand directly in front of a car when someone was in the driver’s seat.
Image credits: maxnesterak/X
In a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said Ross was following his training. “They [Good and her wife] were breaking the law already, and these officers were doing their due diligence with what their training had prepared them to do to make sure they were handling it appropriately,” Noem said.
Tapper asked, “Could he not have just gotten out of the way?”
Noem ignored the question, saying, “This individual and this officer is a highly experienced law enforcement officer. He has years of training and specialized training for these types of situations.”