Kash Patel Halted Probe Into Renee Good’s Killing Over One Word

FBI Director Kash Patel didn’t want the bureau’s forensic experts examining the scene of Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis because he didn’t want her referred to as a “victim” in the warrant, according to Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In a post on X, the senators said that a “credible whistleblower” disclosed Patel’s reasoning for ordering agents not to investigate Good’s death. Instead, Patel wanted “to portray her as the subject of an investigation into the assault of a federal law enforcement officer.”

It’s a shocking revelation, suggesting that in the initial hours and days after Good was shot and killed, the Trump administration was already trying to exonerate itself and create its own narrative.

It’s well established that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension attempted to investigate Good’s killing on its own, only to be immediately shut out by the FBI. Now we know why the FBI was holding off on a civil rights investigation of Good’s death: The Trump administration wanted to brand Good as some kind of insurrectionist or terrorist.

That accusation didn’t stick, and would set off mass protests in Minneapolis against Operation Metro Surge. Good’s killing would be followed by that of nurse Alex Pretti, who similarly was branded a terrorist by the White House. Ultimately, federal prosecutors in the state would resign en masse over the administration’s handling of the two deaths, as well as their immigration strategy overall.

It’s obvious now that Patel’s action failed to convince the public that ICE was in the right when agent Jonathan Ross decided to shoot her. In fact, it’s a major reason why the immigration agency is so unpopular with Americans and why many people want to see the agency abolished. But all of that is falling on deaf ears in the White House.