Editor's Note: This article about the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis has been updated with footage from the cellphone carried by the ICE agent who shot and killed Nicole Good
But transparency doesn’t come quickly, nor is it achieved by relying too heavily on video clips from social media, Wiley Thompson said on Washington Watch Thursday.
Nicole Macklin Good died Wednesday after refusing to exit her SUV at the instruction of one ICE officer then drove off even as another agent, identified later as ICE veteran Jonathan Ross, was blocking the vehicle’s path.
Ross is an Iraq War veteran who has worked with ICE and Border Patrol for almost 20 years, The Associated Press reported. He had been seriously injured last summer when he was dragged by the vehicle of a fleeing suspect.
Macklin Good had moved recently from Kansas City, Missouri to Minneapolis, where she lived with her partner, The Associated Press reports. She had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school, and she was a self-described poet and writer.
There was no shortage of video accounts of the incident on social media. They will be part of the investigative process, Thompson told show host Tony Perkins, but need to be considered in the proper context. Many of them can be “very unreliable,” he said.
“There will be many more video clips than what we know of right now, from what we’ve seen on social media or media in general,” he said.
The FBI will consider all available video, Thompson said.
One new piece of video evidence, posted to social media late Friday morning, came from the ICE agent, Ross. He was filming with a cell phone in his left hand before he used his right hand to draw his weapon and fire three times at the driver.
In the footage, Good and her partner can be seen taunting Ross and other agents on the scene. In one frame Good can be seen grinning at the agent, and moments later Good's partner can also be heard telling her "Drive, baby, drive!"
The agent, who calls Good a crude name, can be heard reacting to being hit by her SUV as she drives away.
The footage was first obtained by Minnesota-based news website Alpha News.
The FBI will lead the investigation much to the dismay of state and local officials in Minnesota.
The state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) typically investigates officer-involved shootings. A joint investigation was initially planned, but the plan has been reversed, AP reported.
“Is it problematic? Absolutely. Am I concerned about this development? Of course, I am,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told AP before alleging that federal officials will be motivated by a “cover-up” of their findings.
“The FBI will try to get as much of that gather as much of that video that’s available to go through that and see what's relevant to be able to piece this all together,” Thompson said.
It won’t be a quick process.
“We must take the time to do this correctly. We owe this to the citizens and must find out whether this was a lawful shooting,” Thompson said.
Vice President J.D. Vance is convinced the shooting was lawful.
"The reason this woman is dead," he told White House reporters Thursday, "is because she tried to ram someone with her car and that guy acted in self-defense. That's why she lost her life."
Two investigations will run concurrently, Thompson said. While the FBI aims to determine whether the shooting was “lawful,” the Department of Homeland Security will seek to determine whether Ross followed the rules for use of force by federal agents.
The criminal investigation takes priority, he said.
“We hope that whatever the results are from this investigation and whatever decision is made, that American will stand behind this and trust the results understanding that we followed the evidence and were an honest broker in presenting the evidence to the U.S. attorney,” Thompson said.
