Who was ICE going to arrest on January 11 2026 in Minneapolis before the shooting incident
Executive summary
ICE agents were conducting a large enforcement operation in Minneapolis when an agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good; reporting indicates the immediate law-enforcement contact that led to the shooting was tied to an attempted arrest of a Mexican national in a vehicle, but news outlets and officials have not published the detainee’s name and the facts remain contested [1] [2]. Federal officials say the deployment was part of a broad “Operation Metro Surge” targeting criminal immigration cases, though local leaders and video evidence dispute key elements of the administration’s account [3] [4].
1. What ICE said it was doing — a broad criminal‑target surge
The Biden administration’s successor federal enforcement drive in Minnesota was described by DHS as a large-scale surge aimed at apprehending individuals they characterize as serious criminal immigration cases, with the department saying hundreds or thousands of arrests had been made under the operation [2] [3]; Fox News and other outlets relayed DHS messaging that the footage showed agents conducting a federal operation [5]. That framing was amplified by ICE statements listing arrests of so‑called “worst of the worst” offenders during the surge, language that positioned the action as criminal‑targeted rather than a general sweep [6].
2. The immediate arrest that precipitated the shooting — a Mexican citizen in a vehicle
Multiple outlets citing court records and reporting indicate the encounter that led to the use of deadly force occurred while agents were attempting to detain a Mexican national inside a vehicle; according to PBS, court documents report the suspect repeatedly refused commands to roll down a window or open the door, prompting a breach attempt that preceded the shooting [1]. Reporters and the Star Tribune connected the episode to ICE removal operations taking place in the community, but those sources do not publish the arrested person’s name or full case details [3] [1].
3. Conflicting narratives about the moments before the shots
The federal account emphasized self‑defense, with DHS and ICE officials presenting footage they say shows the agent being endangered and acting to stop a vehicle, while independent video analyses published by The New York Times and others contend the footage does not support the claim that the agent was in the path of the SUV when shots were fired [5] [4]. Congressional viewers of the footage reportedly came away with different impressions, underscoring the evidentiary fight over what the agent faced in the seconds before he fired [7].
4. Who the agent was and the local context
Local reporting and public records have identified the agent involved in the shooting as Jonathan Ross in some outlets, and described him as an experienced member of ICE’s removal teams and special response units; authorities also noted he had been involved in a prior incident where an agent was dragged by a vehicle, a detail cited in several analyses [1] [8]. The operation itself was politically charged: DHS deployments followed allegations of fraud in Somali‑community nonprofits and sparked sharp pushback from Minneapolis officials who said the federal presence inflamed tensions [2] [9].
5. Limits of the public record and outstanding questions
Available contemporary reporting confirms the person ICE was attempting to arrest at the scene was a Mexican citizen, but neither court documents cited in coverage nor news outlets have published his name, criminal history, or current custody status in a way that would allow definitive public identification [1]. The FBI and internal DHS inquiries were reported to be investigating the shooting while state officials said they had been frozen out of the federal probe, leaving significant evidentiary and jurisdictional questions unresolved in public sources [10] [9].
6. Bottom line
The most direct answer supported by reporting is that agents were trying to arrest a Mexican national in a vehicle during the Minneapolis enforcement operation when the interaction escalated and an ICE agent shot Renee Nicole Good; national and local outlets agree on the type of target (a Mexican citizen) but do not provide the detainee’s identity, and the factual record about whether the agent’s actions were defensive remains disputed in publicly released video and statements [1] [4].