The White House and the Department of Homeland Security continue to defend the January 7, 2026, shooting of Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-ancient American woman, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota, asserting that Ross acted in self-defense. The administration has repeatedly characterized Good as a “domestic terrorist.”
The shooting, which occurred on Portland Avenue South, has sparked ongoing protests and multiple investigations. According to a private autopsy commissioned by the family’s attorneys, Good was struck three times – in her forearm, breast, and head. The autopsy found a graze wound as well. The shooting took place after Good, in her car, briefly reversed and then began moving forward, prompting Ross to fire three shots as her vehicle passed him.
Federal law enforcement officials and President Donald Trump have maintained that Ross was justified in using lethal force, claiming Good attempted to run him over. These accounts are contested by eyewitnesses and Democratic lawmakers, some of whom have called for criminal proceedings against Ross. The president and federal officials have faced criticism for drawing conclusions before the completion of investigations.
The Trump administration’s characterization of Good as a domestic terrorist has drawn scrutiny from legal experts. According to the FBI, domestic terrorism involves “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated hours after the shooting that Good “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted to harm a law enforcement officer, characterizing the act as domestic terrorism. However, former Department of Justice counsel for domestic terrorism, Tom Brzozowski, cautioned against applying the label prematurely, emphasizing the need to await the full investigation’s findings.
The incident has intensified national debate over immigration enforcement and renewed calls to abolish ICE. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, have filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security to halt ICE deployments. The shooting follows a 2017 bombing of a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, where the suspect was sentenced to life in prison for an act of domestic terrorism against a faith community.
The response from the tech sector has been largely muted. While some leaders, like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, have publicly acknowledged the situation and expressed concern, many chief executives at major tech companies – including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, AWS, and OpenAI – have remained publicly silent. Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly sent internal memos to staff calling for de-escalation and expressing confidence in President Trump’s leadership.
This silence contrasts sharply with past responses from the tech industry. In 2018, Microsoft workers presented leadership with a petition protesting the company’s ICE contracts, signed by approximately 500 employees. That same year, thousands of Google workers protested the company’s “Project Maven” partnership with the Pentagon. Tech companies’ current lack of public response also diverges from their statements and financial commitments following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Several tech workers, speaking anonymously, described a culture of fear and a directive to prioritize company missions over public statements. Employees at Microsoft, YouTube, Google, CLEAR, and Abbott reported a lack of acknowledgment of the situation in internal communications and town hall meetings. Some employees have expressed concerns about the potential for AI to be used for state repression, given the increasing collaboration between tech companies and the government.
A petition created by the organization ICEout.tech, titled “Tech demands ICE out of our cities,” calls on tech CEOs to demand that ICE leave cities, cancel all company contracts with ICE, and speak out publicly against ICE’s violence. The petition has garnered over 2,000 signatures from employees at numerous tech companies. Lisa Conn, one of the petition’s organizers, stated that the petition began spreading rapidly through Signal and WhatsApp groups, with even business leaders expressing concerns about a potential economic crisis stemming from ICE’s actions.
Google’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean, posted on X that the killing of Alex Pretti was “absolutely shameful,” while OpenAI’s head of global business, James Dyett, criticized the lack of outrage from tech leaders over ICE’s actions compared to other issues. CLEAR’s chief privacy officer, Lynn Haaland, stated that the company “does not work with ICE and never has.”
As of February 11, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security has not issued further statements regarding the ongoing investigations into the shooting of Renée Good, nor has it responded to calls for greater transparency regarding ICE’s operations.
