Kash Patel stopped Renee Good investigation in order to protect Trump’s assessment on the shooting: Report
Top Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, intervened to stop federal agents from carrying out a civil rights investigation into an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis last month, fearing such a probe would undermine President Trump’s claims about Good’s death, an explosive new report claims.
The day of the shooting, Minnesota-based federal prosecutor Joseph Thompson allegedly sought a warrant to search Good’s vehicle for evidence, part of an effort he told colleagues would involve the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and investigate whether the shooting was justified or it violated the slain mother’s rights.
However, once FBI agents obtained a warrant to document blood spatter and bullet holes in Good’s SUV, they received orders to stop, The New York Times reports, citing anonymous sources.
Instead, according to the paper, the Justice Department encouraged investigators to seek new warrants for a criminal investigation into whether Good assaulted ICE agent Jonathan Ross and to probe Good’s partner instead.
A civil rights case was never pursued, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has said federal officials blocked it from accessing case files and evidence from the scene.
Federal officials reportedly gave orders not to investigate Renee Good’s January killing at the hands of an ICE agent as a civil rights case for fear of contradicting President Trump (Getty)
The Independent has contacted the FBI and DOJ for comment.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, top Trump officials presented a narrative of the shooting that was unsupported by evidence and at odds with widely available video of the encounter.
President Trump originally claimed that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer,” while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome referred to her as a domestic terrorist.
The Trump administration’s handling of the case has prompted a string of resignations from Minnesota officials.
Prosecutors, including Thompson, have resigned en masse from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the state, and an FBI officer reportedly quit amid pressure to avoid a civil rights investigation into Good’s death.
Federal officials blocked state investigators from probing how federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month (Bel Trew/The Independent)
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she fired the prosecutors, whom she told Fox News had “suddenly decided they didn’t want to support the men and women at ICE.”
The Trump administration’s handling of Good’s death, as well as the subsequent shooting by federal agents that month of Alex Pretti, has been roundly criticized.
Federal agents allegedly blocked state investigators with a warrant from accessing the scene of Pretti’s killing.
News outlets were the ones who publicly identified the agents involved in the shooting, rather than the government.
Under heavy pressure after both shootings, the Trump administration changed course and launched a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s death, led by the DOJ. Previously, Homeland Security was leading an investigation.
Under pressure over the Trump administration’s handling of the shooting investigations, federal officials have launched a civil rights probe into Pretti’s death (AFP/Getty)
Kevin Flynn, a former U.S. attorney for the DOJ in Washington, D.C., told the Marshall Project the Trump administration’s conduct so far has been a “complete aberration.”
Officials continue to press the Trump administration for more transparency.
Hennepin County, home to Minneapolis, has submitted formal demands to the DOJ and DHS for evidence as part of its own local investigation into Good’s death.
“I expect the federal government to provide the requested information, documents and physical items to our office,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement this month. “The federal government has been clear that they are not conducting an investigation into Renee Good’s death. But we are. We require these records as part of our ongoing thorough investigation into her death at the hands of a federal agent, Jonathan Ross.”
In late January, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee petitioned Bondi for records on how the DOJ decided against a civil rights investigation in the case.
“Someone affirmatively ordered federal law enforcement to instead investigate Ms. Good’s widow,” the lawmaker wrote.
“Someone affirmatively ordered line agents to block state prosecutors from accessing key evidence. Someone is now taking the same actions with regard to the killing of another American citizen.”
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