It’s not just the awe-inspiring neighbors of Minneapolis, who have continued to come out in epic numbers to defend citizens and noncitizens alike from the violence of ICE and other immigration officials, in the wake of the murder of Renee Nicole Good last week. In the last two days, we’ve seen new defiance even from USJJustice Department officials, rebelling against the way the Trump administration is handling the investigation into Good’s murder.

On Monday four lawyers in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division resigned, because their unit wasn’t involved in the putative investigation. The division normally takes a leading role into law enforcement shootings. On Tuesday, an astonishing six lawyers in the Minnesota US Attorney’s office also resigned, because they had been assigned to look into the political affiliations of Good’s wife, Becca, and not into the actions of murderer Jonathan Ross, according to The New York Times. I’m sorry, I’m not using “allegedly” to modify murder, because I’ve seen all the videos, even the one the administration thought exonerated Ross—merely because it showed Becca Good to be a protesting lesbian, and Renee Good to be unafraid of ICE.

“That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” she told Ross. Those were her last words.

The DOJ thought that proved she deserved to die?

Good’s calm seems to have enraged Ross, who allegedly called her a “fucking bitch” after he shot her. I do say “allegedly” about that, since we aren’t sure he said it, but the words were captured on his own cellphone video after the murder. I don’t know.

Joseph Thompson, second in command at the US Attorney’s office, overseeing the social services fraud probe that first sent federal officials into Minnesota, quit Tuesday, The New York Times reported. At first the stories said only three attorneys resigned; later it came out that there were six. Thompson quit because he objected to looking into the background of Becca Good, instead of probing the illegal use of force by Ross. He was also unhappy that the DOJ shut out Minnesota law enforcement, which would normally be involved in such probes.

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Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said Thompson’s departure imperils the fraud cases he was investigating. “When you lose the leader responsible for making the fraud cases, it tells you this isn’t really about prosecuting fraud,” O’Hara said.

We’ve seen Justice Department lawyers walk out before this year. When Trump somehow got corruption charges against former New York Mayor Eric Adams dismissed, Southern District of New York attorneys, even some conservatives, walked. But a lot of the attorneys who just left have put up with a lot of bad decisions.

Something about the murder of Renee Good is striking them as worse.

The New York Times reported Monday night, in a story that had huge holes, that investigators were turning their attention to Renee Good’s alleged connections to anti-ICE groups. Fine, but the story didn’t show one single connection. Trump, the paper reported, described Good and her wife as being “professional agitators,” and promising that an investigation would “find out who’s paying for it.” Trump offered no evidence to support his claims, and the Times story didn’t either. 

It noted that puppy killer Kristi Noem called Good a “domestic terrorist,” but acknowledged she produced no proof. Still, the headline—”F.B.I. Inquiry Into ICE Shooting Is Examining Victim’s Possible Ties to Activist Groups”—gave the non-story credibility.

The Times story Tuesday featured more truth—reporting the lack of any evidence that Renee Good, or her wife Becca, had anti-ICE ties. But as usual, the Times and major media are not rising to this gutting occasion.

Ethnic cleansing czar Stephen Miller is unmoved by the defiance of either Minneapolis residents or Justice Department employees. Last night on Fox, and later on X, he issued even darker warnings to protesters:

To all ICE officers: You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. Anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony. You have immunity to perform your duties, and no one—no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist—can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties. The Department of Justice has made clear that if officials cross that line into obstruction, into criminal conspiracy against the United States or against ICE officers, then they will face justice.

Tuesday, we also saw Senator Mark Kelly, who never cowered under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s threats to reduce his rank and pension over Kelly’s reminder to American soldiers that they don’t have to comply with illegal orders, sue Hegseth for those threats. I’m not surprised by Kelly’s move—he’s a warrior—but it’s another sign that pushback is coming from everywhere.

In just the last week, we’ve also seen Republicans defy Trump to try to rein in his Venezuela adventures and to pass a belated extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. It’s a little bit enraging that Republicans are rising most energetically to defend Fed Chair Jerome Powell, another Trump “enemy” the demented president is persecuting, because only the markets matter. (And even the markets haven’t reacted to Trump’s threat to prosecute Powell.) But the agitation is still a sign of new political life. Trump is overreaching in so many ways, he’s making an incredible number of new enemies. I welcome them as friends.