Did Ice officer john Ross release his own statement yet

Checked on January 15, 2026
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Executive summary

Multiple national outlets report that Jonathan (Jon) Ross — the ICE officer identified in court records as the agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good — has not issued a public statement about the Jan. 7, 2026 shooting, and reporters say repeated requests for comment to Ross have gone unanswered [1]. The Department of Homeland Security has refused to "expose the name of this officer" in public statements while simultaneously defending the officers' actions, leaving the question of a personal statement by Ross unresolved beyond journalistic attempts to reach him [2] [3].

1. Reporting says Ross has not spoken publicly

Multiple outlets that have reviewed court records and attempted direct outreach report that Ross has not made any public statement about the incident, and that news organizations have tried — without success — to obtain one; NBC News explicitly states Ross "has not made any public statements" and that the outlet made "numerous attempts to reach him with no response" [1]. The Guardian and Wired likewise note Ross did not respond to multiple requests for comment following his identification in reporting and after officials referenced prior incidents involving him [3] [2].

2. Federal officials have both defended actions and withheld the officer’s identity

At the same time federal spokespeople and senior administration officials have defended the agents’ use of force while declining to publicly identify or facilitate statements from the officer, with the Department of Homeland Security saying it "is not going to expose the name of this officer" even as DHS leaders and the vice president publicly characterized the incident in ways that reference an officer’s prior encounter [2] [3]. That posture creates a situation in which the agency's narrative is public but the individual at the center has, according to reporting, not spoken for himself [2] [3].

3. Court records and prior testimony provide context but not a personal statement

The name Jonathan Ross has circulated after news organizations matched court records and trial testimony to the Jan. 7 scene; those documents detail Ross’s ICE tenure and prior incidents but are legal records rather than voluntary public remarks from Ross himself [4] [2]. Reporting based on court testimony outlines Ross’s background as a deportation officer and firearms instructor, but none of those filings substitute for a contemporaneous statement from Ross about the Minneapolis shooting [4] [2].

4. Media attempts, neighborhood reporting and social media fundraising do not equal a statement

News outlets documenting neighbors' reactions, social media posts, and third‑party fundraising campaigns for "Jonathan Ross" are not the agent’s own voice; NBC notes neighbors were unaware of his ICE job and that Ross has not commented, while multiple fundraiser pages and op‑eds speculate about legal defenses or private actions such as potential defamation suits rather than publishing verified statements from Ross [1] [5] [6]. These recurring secondary signals reflect public interest and advocacy but do not constitute a confirmed personal statement by the officer [1] [5].

5. Conflicting frames and next steps: what the reporting implies, and what it does not show

Some political allies and officials have signaled support for Ross and speculated about legal action on his behalf — for example, commentary that Ross "might file" defamation suits — but Newsweek and other outlets frame those as outside commentary rather than evidence that Ross has spoken or will speak publicly [6]. The coverage to date shows journalists and agencies continuing to seek comment while federal policy about naming and protecting officers limits direct public engagement; reporting thus substantiates that Ross has not personally released a public statement as of the latest sources [1] [2].

6. Limits of the available reporting

All factual claims above derive from contemporary news reporting and court records; the sources repeatedly note attempts to reach Ross and a lack of direct comment, but they cannot prove a private, unreported communication exists — therefore the responsible conclusion, given the reporting reviewed, is that no public statement from Jonathan Ross has been published or confirmed by journalists as of the cited reporting [1] [2] [3].

Want to dive deeper?
Has the Department of Homeland Security released any detailed account of the Minneapolis operation that led to Renee Good’s death?
What do bystander videos and independent analyses show about the sequence of events in the Jan. 7 Minneapolis shooting?
What are the legal avenues and precedents for an ICE agent to file a defamation lawsuit after being publicly identified?