Kash Patel Ordered Agents to Halt Civil Rights Investigation Into ICE Killing of Minneapolis Woman, Report Says
Senior Trump administration officials intervened to halt a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, ordering investigators to stand down just hours after the incident, according to a report by The New York Times.
Good was killed last month during an encounter with an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the immediate aftermath, federal prosecutors in Minnesota began preparing what would normally be a routine civil rights review of the use of force. A senior prosecutor secured a search warrant for Good’s SUV, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was preparing to execute it.
Before agents could act, however, the investigation was abruptly shut down.
According to the Times, senior officials in Washington – including FBI Director Kash Patel – ordered agents and prosecutors to halt the inquiry. The intervention reportedly stemmed from concerns that a civil rights investigation would conflict with Donald Trump’s public statements, which blamed Good for the shooting.
Prosecutors were instructed to abandon the standard investigative framework and instead pursue alternative legal theories, including whether Good had assaulted the ICE agent. In another controversial shift, officials were urged to redirect scrutiny toward Good’s partner — a move several career prosecutors described as legally tenuous and unrelated to the shooting itself.
The directive sparked immediate internal backlash. At least six federal prosecutors resigned from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office rather than comply with what they viewed as overt political interference in a routine law enforcement review. According to the Associated Press, additional attorneys have since departed amid ongoing tensions inside the office.
The resignations have strained an already overburdened office now grappling with a wave of cases linked to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota. Those cases include additional use-of-force incidents involving federal agents as well as civil lawsuits challenging detentions and enforcement actions.
Local officials warned that shutting down an independent investigation risks undermining public trust. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told The New York Times that failing to conduct a neutral review only fuels suspicion.
“In the absence of an independent use-of-force investigation, you lead the public to believe that there must be something to hide,” O’Hara said.
Even the ICE agent’s own legal counsel reportedly supported a civil rights review. The Times noted that Chris Madel, who advised the agent after the shooting, said such investigations are a standard and important mechanism for resolving disputed uses of force and protecting all parties involved.
The episode has intensified scrutiny of how political considerations are shaping sensitive law enforcement decisions, particularly when investigations risk contradicting presidential narratives.
The FBI declined to comment on the report. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
