The Justice Department said Tuesday it will not pursue a criminal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, citing a lack of evidence to support such an investigation.
“There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told the Washington Examiner. Federal officials have said the ICE officer acted in self-defense after Good drove her vehicle toward him during an immigration enforcement operation, and federal authorities have described her actions as posing a lethal threat to the agent.
The DOJ’s statement comes amid reports that multiple federal prosecutors resigned in protest of the department’s handling of the case. DOJ officials, however, strongly dispute that characterization.
Although several reports on Tuesday stated at least six attorneys have recently departed the Civil Rights Division and the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office, a DOJ official told the Washington Examiner that the exits were unrelated to the “events in Minnesota” and had been planned well in advance.
“Although we typically don’t comment on personnel matters, we can confirm that the Criminal Section leadership gave notice to depart the Civil Rights Division and requested to participate in the Department of Justice’s Early Retirement Program well before the events in Minnesota,” the official said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
The DOJ also emphasized that multiple reviews of the shooting are underway, including with the FBI.
“As with any officer-involved shooting, each law enforcement agency has an internal investigation protocol, including DHS,” a DOJ official told the Washington Examiner. “As such, ICE OPR has its own investigation underway. This runs parallel to any FBI investigation.”
Lawyers within the Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not be involved in the matter at this stage, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The decision has nonetheless drawn sharp criticism from Minnesota officials and Democratic leaders, who argue the absence of an immediate civil rights inquiry undermines confidence in the federal review.
Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of retaliating against career prosecutors and politicizing the case.
These prosecutors are heroes, and the people pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters.
In their pursuit of cruelty, the administration also just set back the work of fighting fraud by pushing out the prosecutors who were working on those cases. https://t.co/uOV6nAsZgg
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) January 13, 2026
“These prosecutors are heroes, and the people pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters,” Frey wrote Tuesday on X. “In their pursuit of cruelty, the administration also just set back the work of fighting fraud by pushing out the prosecutors who were working on those cases.”
Federal officials have rejected claims that state authorities were improperly blocked from the investigation, noting that jurisdictional limits and federal custody over evidence are standard in officer-involved shootings involving federal agents.
While internal and FBI investigations continue, the DOJ has made clear that, based on the evidence reviewed so far, it does not see grounds for opening a criminal civil rights case.
