Should Minneapolis ICE agent, Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ross face charges in fatal shooting of Renee Good? What the law says about using lethal force of moving car, as legal scholars weigh in while Minnesota authorities may seek to invoke state laws to bring charges forward.
The fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday has re-ignited a long-running debate as to whether a law enforcement officer is justified using lethal force against someone in a moving vehicle?
The killing of 37-year-old mom of three, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, captured on cellphone video, has pitted federal authorities and conservatives who defended the ICE agent’s actions, since identified as Johnathan ‘Jon’ Ross) against local leaders and the political left who called the shooting unjustified, egregious and an over-reach.
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At the center of the debate is when are officers legally able to fire at vehicles, generally barring gunfire at fleeing cars unless the driver poses an imminent threat of deadly force beyond the vehicle itself. Those restrictions, embraced by many police departments and reflected in federal guidance, were intended to curb what experts long warned was among the most dangerous and unpredictable uses of lethal force.
For decades, police departments across the U.S. have limited when officers are allowed to fire at moving vehicles, citing the danger to bystanders and the risk that a driver who is shot will lose control.
The Department of Justice says in its Justice Manual that firearms should not be used simply to disable a moving vehicle. The policy allows deadly force only in limited circumstances, such as when someone in the vehicle is threatening another person with deadly force, or when the vehicle itself is being used in a way that poses an imminent risk and no reasonable alternative exists, including moving out of the vehicle’s path.
ICE and the Homeland Security Department’s policy on the use of force says that officers are authorized to use deadly force only if the officer ‘has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.’
Of note, the policy further states that officers should ‘avoid intentionally and unreasonably placing themselves in positions in which they have no alternative to using deadly force.’
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At a news conference Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said any death is a tragedy, but that the shooting was justified.
‘Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he’s been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers,’ Noem said.
She alleged the woman who was killed was using her vehicle to block officers, had been harassing them through the day and ‘attempted to run a law enforcement officer over’ before she was shot. The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, she said.
Speaking to the nypost, Andrew C. McCarthy, the former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, opined tha the ICE agent was unlikely to face charges because regardless of the driver’s intention, the officer’s ‘life was jeopardized’ and his use of force was justified.
‘It is settled Fourth Amendment law that a police officer may use deadly force against a fleeing suspect if he has a good-faith belief that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others,’ he told the nypost.
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Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, said officials should take a step back before making any pronouncements speaking to ABC News.
‘There needs to be two thorough parallel investigations,’ he told the outlet. ‘First ICE officials should investigate administratively whether this agent violated policy or training. And then state officials should be conducting a thorough criminal investigation as well.’
He said determining whether the use-of-force was justified or criminal is going to depend on many details that have not been disclosed publicly.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, ‘We collectively are going to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this, to get justice, and to make sure that there is an investigation that is conducted in full.’ Police Chief Brian O’Hara followed up by saying that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is ‘investigat[ing] whether any state laws within the state of Minnesota have been violated.’
Of note, numerous states have indicted, charged, and arrested federal law enforcement officers for conduct that exceeded their official duties according to the American Prospect.
Wednesday’s tragedy was the fifth fatality involving between ICE agents and community members and the 9th shooting since September, amid ongoing escalations between ICE agents commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants and citizens objecting to what they decry as over-reach.
