MINNEAPOLIS — The family of Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother fatally shot by a federal immigration agent in January, revealed Thursday they have received no communication from President Donald Trump or the White House, despite the president’s public claims regarding the family’s political leanings.
In an exclusive series of interviews following the killing that has ignited a national firestorm over federal use of force, Good’s siblings and parents described a family in mourning—and one increasingly isolated by the administration’s rhetoric.
“There’s a reason that we hired our own investigators,” Good’s brother, Brett Ganger, told NBC News on Feb. 26. “To make sure that the truth is transparent and available, to make sure that this is really taken seriously and to make sure that we know what occurred.”
A Family Contradicts White House Narrative
The silence from the Oval Office stands in stark contrast to President Trump’s public comments on Jan. 20, where he claimed to have heard that Good’s father, Tim Ganger, was a “tremendous” supporter.
“He was all for Trump. Loved Trump, and it’s terrible,” the president said during a press conference. “I hope he still feels that way.”
However, the Ganger family describes themselves as a “very American blend” of political views rather than a monolithic voting bloc. Testifying before Congress, Good’s brother Luke Ganger emphasized that while the family “votes differently,” they remain united by mutual respect—a bond they feel has been ignored by a White House that labeled Renee a “domestic terrorist” and described her death as an “attack on the American people.”
Tim Ganger declined to confirm his political affiliation in recent interviews, focusing instead on the loss of his daughter, whom he described as “slow to anger and quick to love.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Renee-Nicole-Good-010826-4-f1606285b96845d0ab9f90f5ca286db1.jpg)
The Fatal Encounter: What the Footage Shows
Renee Good was killed on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis’ Central neighborhood. She was driving her Honda Pilot with her wife, Becca, and their dog, just minutes after dropping her six-year-old son off at school.
The incident, captured in a video shared by Alpha News and recorded from the perspective of the shooter—identified as ICE agent Jonathan Ross—shows a tense confrontation. As Good attempted to maneuver her vehicle away from masked officers, Ross fired three shots. Good died from a gunshot wound to the head.
While the Trump administration has defended the shooting as self-defense, alleging Good attempted to “ram” the officer, independent analyses by several news organizations suggest Ross was standing to the side of the vehicle when he opened fire.
The family has refused to watch the footage. “I can’t bring myself to do that,” Brent Ganger told CBS Evening News. “We’re the ones who know Renee… those other things aren’t going to change that.”
Escallating Violence in Minnesota
The killing of Renee Good was not an isolated incident in what local officials describe as an increasingly aggressive federal surge.
- Jan. 24: Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and VA employee, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
- Legal Action: The Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin has launched a civil investigation on behalf of the Good family.
- Political Fallout: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt the operations, while the DOJ has reportedly blocked local access to evidence.
As the Ganger family seeks answers through private investigators and the courts, the case has become a focal point for the “Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026,” a piece of legislation gaining steam in a fractured Congress.
For the family, the focus remains on the woman they lost. “It’s the complete antithesis of who she was to die in that way,” Brent Ganger said. “It doesn’t feel real still.”
