Renee Good's Brothers Testify About Federal Agents' Use Of Force at Capitol Hearing: 'Violent and Unnecessary' By Janelle Griffith

Brent and Luke Ganger — the brothers of Renee Good — testified at a Capitol Hill hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 3, where they addressed the use of force by federal immigration agents.

The pair described the family’s deep distress over their sister’s January killing and disappointment that it has not led to changes in the agents’ enforcement tactics.

Good was fatally shot in her SUV by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7. She and her partner Becca had just dropped off their 6-year-old child at school and stopped to observe the law enforcement activity in Minneapolis.

Good was a mother of three.

“The deep distress our family feels because of Nae’s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change,” Luke Ganger testified. “In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Nae’s death would bring about change in our country, and it has not.”

He said he struggles to explain her killing to his own daughter, who he said has Good’s spirit.

“The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation,” he said. “This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents. These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever. I still don’t know how to explain to my 4-year-old what these agents are doing when we pass by.”

The hearing was organized by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California — both Democrats.

Luke described his family as “a very American blend” of people who vote differently and “rarely completely agree on the finer details of what it means to be a citizen of this country.

“We attend various churches and some not at all, and despite those differences, we have always treated each other with love and respect, and we’ve gotten even closer during this very divided time in our country, and we hope that our family can be even a small example to others — not to let political ideals divide us, to be good like Renee,” he said. “But the most important thing we can do today is to help this panel and our country understand who Nae is and what a beautiful American we have lost.”

“A sister, a daughter, mother, a partner and a friend,” he added.

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Brent Ganger grew emotional as he read from a eulogy that he said he delivered for Good on Saturday, Jan. 31.

“When I think of Renee, I think of dandelions and sunlight,” he said. “Dandelions don’t ask permission to grow. They push through cracks in the sidewalk, through hard soil to places where you don’t expect beauty, and suddenly there they are, bright, alive.”

He described Good as someone who made things feel lighter, “even on cloudy days.”

“Renee had a way of showing up in the world that made you believe things were going to be okay, not because she ignored the hardship, but because she chose optimism anyway,” Brent said. “She chose to look for what was good, what was possible and what was worth loving.”

He said she poured her love into those she cared for, including her children and siblings.

“Her children were and are her heart, walking around outside her body, and she made sure they felt safe, valued and endlessly loved,” Brent testified. “As a sister, she was constant, someone you could lean on, laugh with, or just sit in silence beside.”

Good is one of two U.S. citizens who were killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month. Her killing and that of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti — both of which were recorded on video — have sparked outrage and spurred calls for accountability amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Within hours of Good’s killing, Trump claimed she “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.”

However, he has since changed his tone.

“Bottom line, it was terrible. Both of them were terrible; the other was terrible too,” Trump said in an appearance on The Will Cain Show last week of the two shooting deaths. “And I’m not sure about his parents, but I know her parents were big Trump fans, makes me feel bad anyway. But I guess you could say even worse, they were tremendous Trump people, Trump fans.”