Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has filed a sweeping civil rights lawsuit invoking a law originally passed to combat Ku Klux Klan violence, accusing senior Trump administration officials of participating in a conspiracy that led to her death. The 149-page suit, filed in federal court Thursday, names officials including former Homeland Security Kristi Noem Secretary, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Border Czar Tom Homan, alleging that they and other immigration leaders used "Operation Metro Surge" to target Somali and Hispanic communities, and sought to intimidate those who were documenting or opposing federal immigration enforcement. Plaintiffs say Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was killed as she tried to drive away from agents after warning neighbors about the operation in Minneapolis in January.
"What happened to her on January 7th and what has happened to far too many people in the last year is not what America is about. We can and must do better, and the Constitution must be the roadmap back to decency and the rule of law." The Trump administration has defended the federal agent's actions, stating Good weaponized her vehicle and struck the agent before he fired his weapon. Newsweek reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment Thursday morning.
The Department of Justice declined to comment. At the heart of the lawsuit is the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a federal law enacted during Reconstruction to combat organized campaigns of violence and intimidation against newly freed Black Americans and their allies. The act allows civil litigation against conspiracies which deprive people of equal protection under the law, with one provision specifically referencing people who go "in disguise on the highway" to deprive others of equal protection.
The plaintiffs argue the law applies in 2026 because masked federal agents allegedly carried out discriminatory enforcement actions and because Good's killing furthered an effort to intimidate observers and targeted communities. "Congress enacted [the law] to address precisely this scenario: the acts of individuals who ride the public roads with their facescovered, to strip a despised group of the equal protection of the laws, and conspiracies to accomplish the same," the complaint, filed in the U.S. District of Minnesota, read.
The new filings are the latest effort to sue the Trump administration over its sweeping immigration enforcement efforts, with the same law firm representing Good's family recently pursuing legal action against agents involved in the raids in Illinois under Operation Midway Blitz. This is a breaking news story. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Dave Siminoff.
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