Renee Good’s mother says she voted for Trump before daughter was killed by ICE agent

Donna Ganger says she expected immigration agents to protect Americans — not take her daughter’s life.

Donna Ganger, the mother of Renee Nicole Good, revealed that she is a registered Republican and voted for President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, her daughter was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis in January.

Ganger made the disclosure Tuesday during a Capitol Hill forum examining fatal shootings involving federal immigration agents. According to Mediaite, the event was hosted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia. “I’m a registered Republican. I voted for President Trump under the impression that these agents were here to protect the citizens of the United States,” Ganger said.

Her comments captured a painful contradiction. She said she supported Trump’s immigration approach believing it would protect families like hers, but her own daughter was later killed during an encounter with an ICE officer. Good, 37, was fatally shot by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. Good was not the subject of an ICE enforcement action but had been involved in an encounter with the officer while participating in a protest.

An independent autopsy released in January found that Good suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including a wound to the head that was likely fatal. The circumstances surrounding her death have remained contested. Hennepin County authorities said they were conducting their own investigation and formally sought federal evidence and records related to the shooting.

Ganger emphasized that political differences existed within her own family.

“Our family is a very American blend. We vote differently, but we love each other deeply.” She said she had expected federal immigration agents to protect American citizens from threats, not to characterize people in the country as terrorists and take lives. “It’s torture that as her mom and as her family, we could not protect Renee,” Ganger said. She then delivered the line that has drawn national attention: “This is madness.”

Ganger’s story is striking because it does not fit neatly into the usual political categories. She presented the issue as extending beyond partisan politics, describing her family’s experience while explaining why she had originally supported Trump’s immigration policies.