The Department of Homeland Security issued an internal memo in November on how to safely conduct “vehicle extractions” that instructed immigration agents to “avoid unsafe positioning,” guidance that contrasts sharply with ICE agent Jonathan Ross’s actions last week after positioning himself in front of Renee Good’s vehicle and fatally shooting her.
The internal memo was leaked to journalist Ken Klippenstein, who exclusively reported on its contents Friday on his Substack.
Dated Nov. 3, the memo stresses that for “safe and effective vehicle extractions, de-escalation is key.” It also instructs DHS personnel – which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents – to “always begin with clear verbal commands to direct subjects and communicate intent.”
In a sharp contrast to the memo’s instructions, Good was killed last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after being chaotically surrounded by ICE agents while in her vehicle and given conflicting commands, with one agent ordering her to “drive away” and another demanding she “get out of her car.” Ross had also walked around Good’s vehicle to position himself directly in front of it.
Ross continued circling the vehicle before Good turned her wheels in what some observers described as an attempt to flee, whereas the Trump administration has claimed she intended to run him over, prompting Ross to fire three shots that fatally wounded her.
The memo also includes a warning that “actions” of DHS personnel regarding vehicle extractions should be “proportional to the perceived threat and the subject’s level of compliance.”
Immigration officials stepping in front of vehicles has been a documented phenomenon for more than a decade. A 2014 internal review of the U.S. Border Patrol’s policies obtained and reported on by The Nation revealed that immigration officials had “intentionally and unnecessarily stepped in front of moving cars to justify using deadly force against vehicle occupants.”