What is supposed to happen, and until Trump 2.0 always has is that when a federal agent shoots/kills someone in the line of duty a Civil Rights investigation is conducted by the FBI. While like other LE federal agents operated under the (too broad) shield of Qualified Immunity from criminal prosecution lawsuits are still possible. Also, the results of an investigation can wind up producing evidence that a shooter(s) should in fact be prosecuted on state charges. That’s why in these investigations it is, or at least WAS to do a joint investigation with local and state LE. As you know, when Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE THUG Jonathan Ross the wheels were set in motion only to quickly have the tired slashed. By Kash Patel.
That’s what we learn in this article from Raw Story. They cite NYT reporting that Patel personally intervened to quash the investigation into Good’s killing. Learning this detail will surprise exactly no one. Yet I find it interesting and will explain why. First the basics:
FBI Director Kash Patel personally ordered local prosecutors to cease investigating the death of Renee Good because he feared it would contradict President Donald Trump’s version of the killing, a New York Times report claimed Saturday.
The order came from Patel and other senior officials who worried that pursuing a civil rights investigation — by using a warrant obtained on that basis — would contradict Trump’s claim that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer” who fired at her as she drove her vehicle.
That’s bad enough, but as you know the FBI turned around and opened an investigation into the VICTIM, Renee Good and her family! If you’ve been following all this then you know career prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s office started balking right then and there. There have been I think a few actual firings but a whole barrel of resignations. The office has essentially been gutted. This matters because in addition to the crap ICE has manufactured as ‘crimes’ for that office to deal with actual real cases against actual criminals are in jeopardy:
Thompson and five others resigned in protest, triggering a broader exodus that severely depleted Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office, the Times reported.
From an office of approximately 25 criminal litigators, the departures removed top prosecutors overseeing investigations into fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs—investigations the White House previously cited as justification for the immigration crackdown.
Irony has taken yet another hit. A horrible mess has been made worse and in more than one way because the embattled Patel wanted to suck up to Trump. That friends is what this boils down to. There are quite a few top idiots Trump put into positions for which they were and remain unqualified. Ok, so Rubio and Bondi were perhaps marginally qualified but while he’s taken some criticism few have called for Rubio’s head on a silver platter. Bondi on the other hand has faced a loud chorus of calls to either resign and/or for Trump to fire her. Same for Noem, and of course Patel. He COULD have chosen to let the FBI do what it normally does and maybe helped Trump throw them under the bus.
However he too is on the hot seat. By early afternoon of the morning she was shot and killed what Team Trump, including Trump were saying and what video and witness accounts were proving were two very different things. Like I said, Patel probably like seeing Noem in particular get way out over her skis, but Trump was saying some of the same bullshit lies. The village idiot would know that a proper investigation by the FBI, conducted in the standard way with state and local authorities would prove Team Trump and the Orange Hued Turd God Emperor himself were lying through their teeth. So Patel stepped in, and was of course backed up by AG Bondi:
The details were shared with the Times by several people with knowledge of the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
They said a senior federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Joseph H. Thompson, sought a warrant to search the Good’s car for evidence. Thompson anticipated a standard civil rights investigation into agent Jonathan Ross’s use of force.
In an email to colleagues, Thompson stated that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a state agency specializing in police shooting investigations, would work with the FBI to determine whether the shooting was justified and lawful.
But as the team, including FBI agents, prepared to document blood spatter and bullet holes with their signed warrant, they were ordered to halt operations.
So not only did Patel join in the chorus of lies, he spiked the chance to prove Ross and ICE were guilty of at best an unjustified shooting/killing but perhaps even of outright murder. Federal agents made hasty arrangements to tow away Good’s vehicle (did they even bother to secure it to preserve chain of custody for any evidence that might turn up?) and got the hell away from the scene before the state BCA arrived and could question anyone. Ross of course went into hiding – a team was evacuating his family and some personal possessions from his Minneapolis house before the sun went down that awful day. Ross of course remains in an undisclosed location.
Then as I’ve said the FBI began an investigation into Good! You can be sure if there was ANYTHING Team Trump could cite, be it social media reports or statements made to friends and family that made her look bad it would have instantly been SHOUTED on Fox News and Truth Social so the rest of the RWNJ media ecosystem and MAGAs could trash her memory. But it’s been crickets because clearly there is no “there” there. Silence can be golden but it can’t bring back a life, that of a gentle woman who made a real effort to help others back. Worse, ICE didn’t learn a damned thing. Another gentle soul, an ICU nurse at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis was shot and killed in the street.
Yes, there are signs that now the bridge between the FBI and state/local authorities is being rebuilt. But file away what I mentioned about chain of custody. If evidence (Good’s vehicle for example, Ross’ weapon and those of the two agents who killed Pretti wasn’t properly secured it can’t later be used in court. Patel is every bit as stupid as he looks but he’s been in his job long enough to know that much. Whether he did or not doesn’t matter in the end. Even if only by accident he might have shielded not just Trump, but agents who might be guilty under the law of murder off the hook.
THAT is why this matters, and why I’ve chosen to write about it today. Any President before Trump would have offered a “This is a terrible situation but we should wait and let investigators review things instead of jumping to conclusions” type statement. But no, Trump couldn’t stand that the news was focusing on someone other than him so he shot off HIS fat mouth. Patel saw an opportunity to shore up his standing with the boss and here we are. He hit the handle on the fake gold toilet and the only hope of justice when all is said and done is that the thing is already blocked up and justice doesn’t get flushed.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
If all the village idiots of all the villages on earth were put into one new village, Kash Patel would be that village’s village idiot.