A new video released by local Minnesota conservative outlet Alpha News shows the moment a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on a residential street Wednesday morning in Minneapolis.
The 47-second clip, posted to social media on Friday, appears to have been taken from the cell phone held by the agent, who has been identified as Jonathan Ross.
Michael Feinberg, a former assistant special agent in charge with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, joined MS NOW’s Chris Jansing to react to the newly released video, which he said showed “law enforcement officers overreacting to what admittedly might be some sarcastic and lightly combative civilians.”
Based on his analysis, Feinberg said the confrontation in the video was not a “situation that would require the application of deadly force.”
“The reason law enforcement officers are supposed to be vetted before they join, and the reason they go through extensive training, is that two of the qualities you need to exhibit the most are emotional maturity and an ability to keep your cool,” he explained. “Getting heckled, getting videotaped — anything related to those two activities — that’s part of the job.”
“Somebody filming you on a cell phone and giving you sass is not a threat to your life — it’s not even a threat to your safety. It’s a minor annoyance at best,” Feinberg added.
The former FBI agent also questioned why Ross was recording the interaction on his phone. “Why on earth is a law enforcement officer filming an interaction with a civilian on his cell phone? They’re not influencers, they’re not social media posters. If you’re there to do a job as an agent of the federal government, do the job. You don’t need to be making content in the midst of it.”
Feinberg called the behavior he witnessed from Ross in the video the “height of unprofessionalism.” He told Jansing the video calls into question the federal government’s claim that Ross was acting in self-defense. “If the officer who fired the shots was really in fear for his life, he has a lot of equipment to protect himself, but you generally want your hands free to be able to access that equipment,” he said. “I spent a long time in law enforcement,” Feinberg continued. “There is never a situation where, if I thought I was in danger, I would preoccupy one of my usable hands by taking a video of the person to whom I was talking. You want your hands free to respond to the situation.” You can watch Feinberg’s full analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. Recommended
