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Several career prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced their resignations this week after learning there would be no federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal immigration agent, according to six people briefed on the matter.
At least six prosecutors — most of them supervisors in the division’s criminal section — will be leaving their posts, the sources said. The resignations were disclosed to staff during a meeting Monday, shortly after news surfaced that the Justice Department would not open a criminal civil rights probe into the shooting.
The resignations followed the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, identified as Renee Nicole Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an encounter that was captured on video. The officer, Jonathan Ross, fired three rounds at Good’s car as she began to drive away, according to footage widely circulated online.
Career prosecutors in the Civil Rights Division had offered to pause their ongoing work to assist with a potential investigation, according to sources familiar with the discussions. They were later informed that the Justice Department would not pursue a criminal civil rights case, prompting internal frustration that culminated in the announcement of departures.
Initially, the Justice Department considered opening a so-called “color of law” investigation — a criminal civil rights inquiry into whether a law enforcement officer used excessive force while acting in an official capacity, according to two sources briefed on the deliberations.
That approach was later abandoned. Instead, the case is now being treated as an alleged assault on a federal officer, with Ross viewed as the victim of a crime rather than Good, the sources said.
Some legal experts say video evidence from the scene warranted a civil rights investigation. Julius Nam, a former federal civil rights prosecutor in Los Angeles, said the available footage appears to show Good’s vehicle turning away from Ross at the time of the shooting.
“Just looking at the totality of the evidence that I see, which is limited, there is enough there to make a criminal inquiry to determine whether there was deprivation of Ms. Good’s rights under color of law,” Nam told CBS News.
The video also appeared to show officers failing to immediately render medical aid after the shooting. A separate recording shows officers stopping a man who claimed to be a doctor from approaching Good.
A Justice Department official confirmed that leadership within the Civil Rights Division’s criminal section gave notice they planned to depart under an early retirement program. The official said those decisions were made “well before the events in Minnesota.”
“Any suggestion to the contrary is false,” the official said.
Several sources, however, told CBS News that while most of those resigning are taking advantage of the early retirement option, the Minneapolis shooting factored into the timing of their announcement and was a breaking point for some prosecutors.
Senior Trump administration officials have publicly defended the immigration agent. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and others have blamed Good, alleging she attempted to assault Ross with her car.
Civil rights groups sharply criticized the Justice Department’s handling of the case. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the lack of a full investigation raised broader concerns about accountability.
“If incidents that are visible like the Minneapolis shooting are not subjected to full, impartial investigations that genuinely seek accountability, we must wonder how many other cases go unreported, undocumented, or purposefully obscured,” Johnson said in a statement.
The resignations add to a growing exodus from the Civil Rights Division, which has lost roughly 75% of its staff across sections since last year, according to people familiar with internal figures. Until now, the criminal section had seen fewer departures than other units.
Sources said frustration among prosecutors has also been fueled by other interventions by political leadership, including a controversial effort last year to seek a one-day prison sentence for a former Louisville police officer convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights. A federal judge ultimately sentenced the officer to 33 months in prison.
In another case, the division abruptly moved to dismiss charges shortly before trial against two Tennessee sheriff’s office officials accused of excessive force and a cover-up.
The Civil Rights Division’s criminal section is responsible for prosecuting hate crimes and cases involving law enforcement misconduct, including excessive force, sexual abuse, false arrests and deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.
Under Justice Department guidelines, cases involving deaths are often considered matters of national significance, requiring coordination between the Civil Rights Division and local U.S. attorney’s offices. While U.S. attorneys can pursue excessive force cases independently, the Minneapolis shooting would likely meet that threshold, according to the Justice Manual.
The division previously led one of the most high-profile civil rights prosecutions in recent history following the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin later pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Floyd’s constitutional rights while acting under color of law.
It remains unclear whether the Justice Department will reconsider its decision not to pursue a civil rights investigation in the Minneapolis case. Meanwhile, the departures of senior prosecutors are expected to further strain the Civil Rights Division as it continues to grapple with staffing losses and internal dissent over its direction.
