US Rep. Ilhan Omar (second from right) speaks alongside fellow Democrats and a photograph of Renee Nicole Macklin Good outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Renee Nicole Macklin Good ’s family is accusing federal immigration officers of killing the Minneapolis mother as she attempted to follow agents’ instructions, and said Wednesday they have hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family to press for answers and accountability.
Her loved ones said in a statement they want Macklin Good, 37, remembered as “an agent of peace” and urged the public not to use her death as a political flashpoint, according to the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin. The firm said it will release information from its investigation in the coming weeks.
The family’s decision to hire the law firm came the same week the Justice Department said it sees no basis to open a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. An FBI probe of Renee Nicole Macklin Good’s death is ongoing.
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The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defence while standing in front of Macklin Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward. But that explanation has been widely panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures, according to people familiar with the matter.
Romanucci & Blandin said the family wants answers about the federal operation taking place on Jan. 7 in the neighbourhood where Macklin Good was killed, as well as officers’ actions during the encounter and delays in medical aid after the shooting. The ICE agent who fired has not been publicly identified.
Protesters gather in front of the Minnesota State Capitol on Wednesday.John Locher/The Associated Press
Macklin Good’s wife, Becca Good, and other relatives say the couple had just dropped off their 6-year-old child at school and stopped to observe the law enforcement activity when officers approached them, according to the law firm. The attorneys said Macklin Good appeared to reverse and turn her vehicle away from an agent before the shooting, although investigators have not released an official account.
“What happened to Renee is wrong,” the firm said, adding that they intend to share findings “on a rolling basis” because they believe the community is not receiving adequate information elsewhere. The firm, which helped secure a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family, is now representing Becca Good as well as Renee Nicole Macklin Good’s parents and siblings.
Becca Good released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying the couple had stopped to support their neighbours: “ We had whistles. They had guns.” Becca Good and her family have not responded to calls and messages from The Associated Press. Her earlier statement provided no further detail about the day of the shooting and instead focused on memorializing her wife.