It’s the protesters on the streets in Minneapolis fighting ICE, DOJ lawyers who’ve resigned over the investigation into Renee and Becca Good—and many more opposing Trump’s abuses.
Demonstrators during a protest in Minneapolis on January 8, 2026. An ICE officer fatally shot a woman during a confrontation in Minneapolis, sparking an uproar over the presence of ICE agents in the city(Ben Brewer / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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.
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.
Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets.
Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.
As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war.
In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth.
The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more.
But this journalism is possible only with your support.
This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?
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.
Joan WalshTwitterJoan Walsh, a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, is a coproducer of The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show and the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America. Her new book (with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) is Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power and Wealth In America.