Author’s note: If you’re looking for more investigations on the forces behind this story, follow W. A. Lawrence’s Glass Empires. Her work covers a wide range of subjects, and her reporting on ICE detention facilities is some of the best available anywhere.

It has been 260 days since ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renée Nicole Good and he has still faced no charges.

Within 10 days of the fatal shooting, supporters raised more than $1 million for Ross on GoFundMe and GiveSendGo. The GoFundMe organizer, Clyde Emmons, wrote that Ross was “1000 percent justified in the shooting” and deserved the money.

MAGA sure was happy to open their wallets to see a government employee murdering people with impunity.

After the shooting, Ross was placed on three days of administrative leave before returning to work. He has not been charged with any crime.

Ross now works for ICE outside Minnesota, and that doesn't stand in the way of a charge. Hennepin County can file the complaint, and a judge can issue a warrant for his arrest anywhere in the country. The Constitution's Extradition Clause requires the state where he lives to hand him over, and in Puerto Rico v. Branstad (1987), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal courts can order a governor to comply.

In the aftermath of the murder, I went to Minnesota and met with state legislators along with the activists and organizers leading the public response.

That included bringing together The Existentialist Republic community and pushing for charges since the first week. You made thousands of phone calls and sent thousands of emails calling for Ross to be charged.

Many of you went further and mailed printed copies of the model prosecution memorandum we drafted so Mary Moriarty’s office could be saved some work; we like to be helpful here at the Existentialist Republic.

Today I sent the letter below to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, asking her office to charge Ross before her term ends in January.

A note on the charges mentioned in the letter, which were chosen very intentionally. In my years in law enforcement, it was an open secret that prosecutors overcharge police killings. This is because overcharging is one of the most reliable ways to make sure an officer walks. Neither of these charges requires the standard of proof that is potentially out of reach in a very strict reading of the law. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true but the difference between true and demonstrably true in a court of law are just two different standards.

Second-degree unintentional murder requires proof that a person caused a death while committing a felony, and it carries a maximum of 40 years in prison. Here the felony is third-degree assault, the same predicate Minnesota used to convict Derek Chauvin. Second-degree manslaughter requires proof of culpable negligence. In my assessment, the publicly available evidence far exceeds what either charge requires, which gives a prosecutor a clear win and the maximum sentence the facts merit.

Here is the letter.

Dear County Attorney Moriarty,
I am asking your office to file a criminal complaint charging Jonathan Ross with second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter for the Jan. 7 killing of Renée Nicole Good.
The standard for a criminal complaint in Minnesota is probable cause. The public record met that standard in February, when it already held five synchronized video angles and at least four named eyewitnesses, a completed autopsy and Ross’s own footage of the shooting. On July 13, your office announced that the federal government had turned over its evidence, including agent statements and body camera footage. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension now holds the Honda Pilot Ms. Good was driving. You said then that the evidence allows your office to fully evaluate whether charges are warranted.
On May 29, 2020, former Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman charged Officer Derek Chauvin four days after George Floyd’s death, the fastest his office had ever charged a police officer.
The Intercept reported on Sept. 19 that the charging decision could fall to your successor. I am asking you to make it before you leave office. Your office has supervised this investigation since January and has held the federal evidence since July. A county attorney who takes office in January would inherit the file without that history and begin a new review. Ross has been back at work for ICE in another state since at least April, according to The Daily Beast. Ms. Good’s family has waited more than eight months for a decision.
I have published the full case. The Prosecution of Jonathan Ross sets out each charge under Minn. Stat. § 609.19 and § 609.205, the elements of each offense, the evidence for each element and the probable cause standard, with a prosecution memorandum attached. Jonathan Ross Shot Renée Good in January. The Prosecutor Has the Evidence. He Hasn’t Been Charged. Why? updates that memorandum with evidence made public through March. It also covers Ross leaving the scene without rendering aid, which supports a separate count under § 609.662.
I can send the prosecution memorandum as a standalone document on request.
Sincerely,
Christopher Armitage
Publisher, The Existentialist Republic
Owner and Editor in Chief, Gavel Grab
ChristopherArmitage.com

I also forwarded the letter to Indivisible Twin Cities and to John Maraist, chair of the Minneapolis Democratic Farmer Labor Party, asking each to consider a public statement calling on Moriarty to announce her decision on Ross before she leaves office. I have also submitted an op-ed making the same case to a Minnesota publication.

Moriarty holds this decision until her term ends in January. After that, whoever Hennepin County voters elect on Nov. 3 makes it, starting from a file they have never supervised.

CALL TO ACTION

This one is for people who live anywhere, regardless of where you reside, those who want to see a restoration of law and order. We all have a stake in ensuring justice is restored.

Who you are contacting and how: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, through her office’s published contact information. Email citizeninfo@hennepin.us, call 612–348–5550, send a free fax to 612–348–9712 through FaxZero, or mail Hennepin County Attorney, Government Center, A-1200, 300 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55487.

What you are asking for: A charging decision on Jonathan Ross before she leaves office in January.

What that is: The public record has supported charging Ross since February. If she leaves the decision to her successor, a new county attorney begins a new review.

Say who you are, why you care and what you want, in your own words. Please don’t copy and paste my letter; identical messages get counted once, and your own words are what work. If you live in Hennepin County, say so.

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