KC lawmaker called ICE shooting ‘deeply disturbing.’ GOP leaders had a different take
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lawmakers split sharply over ICE killing, Democrats call for accountability.
- National Republicans defended the officer; most local GOP lawmakers didn't comment.
- Public videos and protests prompt demands for independent investigations and review.
After watching a video of an ICE officer firing fatal shots into former Kansas City resident Renee Good’s car in Minneapolis, Kansas City’s longtime congressman condemned the shooting as “unnecessary and deeply disturbing.”
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, demanded independent investigations into the shooting and attacked the Trump administration for smearing Good’s reputation. His Democratic colleague in Kansas, Rep. Sharice Davids, called her death a “tragic killing.”
Across the political aisle, Rep. Bob Onder, a Missouri Republican, had a different take. The first-term lawmaker referred to Good on social media as a “perpetrator” who taunted the ICE officer, ignored “lawful orders,” and slammed her accelerator. He touted the shooting as self-defense.
A stark partisan divide has emerged in the wake of last week’s shooting death of Good at the hands of an ICE officer, identified by multiple news outlets as veteran ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Videos of the shooting shared widely online have sparked strikingly different reactions among lawmakers in Kansas and Missouri, illustrating a deeply polarized split across the nation over the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on American cities.
The Star contacted every member of the congressional delegations in Kansas and Missouri to get their reactions to the slew of videos spreading rapidly online. Cleaver and Davids immediately denounced the shooting. Only one of the 13 GOP lawmakers offered a comment in response to questions about whether the ICE officer’s actions were justified.
The videos shared online show the moments before, during and after the ICE officer fired shots into Good’s Honda Pilot, killing her. Bystanders recorded the fatal incident from various angles and video filmed by the agent who opened fire on Good has also been made public.
Good’s death has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats who view it as a damning example of excessive force and the Trump administration’s overreach in deploying federal agents to U.S. cities.
Meanwhile, national Republicans have fiercely defended the officer and blamed Good for her death. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized Good’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism.” Vice President JD Vance called Good a “deranged leftist” and encouraged his social media followers to watch a video of the shooting, saying the officer’s “life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”
Good’s death sparked outrage in Kansas City, where she and her wife, Becca Good, lived between 2023 and 2024, according to court records. On Saturday, Kansas Citians joined nationwide ICE protests, holding a vigil and marching through the Country Club Plaza to honor the life of the 37-year-old victim, who was an award-winning poet and a mother of three.
Kansas, Missouri GOP’s hesitance
While Republicans nationwide defend the shooting as justified, GOP lawmakers in Kansas and Missouri appeared hesitant to weigh in. Only Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran responded to The Star’s request for comment, cautioning against drawing snap conclusions about who was at fault in the fatal incident.
“I think it is prudent to take a step back and let the investigation occur,” Moran said in a statement. “Much of today’s world revolves around information on the internet. Let’s do everything we can to find out what transpired, who’s at fault, what do we do to make sure that a tragedy doesn’t happen again.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican, declined to comment, while the remaining 11 Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate did not respond to questions about whether they defended or condemned the shooting.
Rep. Wesley Bell, a Missouri Democrat, also did not respond to questions. The St. Louis lawmaker criticized the shooting in a post on social media that called for ICE to leave Minnesota and demanded an investigation.
Online, a few Republicans were more outspoken to their social media followers. In a post two days after the shooting, Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, attacked Democrats for criticizing ICE but did not specifically mention Good or the shooting.
“What you’re seeing is a coordinated effort by the Left to thwart efforts to enforce immigration laws,” Schmitt wrote. “That’s the truth. Anything else is just gaslighting.”
Onder, who shared a video of the shooting online, was more specific in his criticism of Good and defense of the officer, writing that it was “Open and shut self defense.”
Kansas’ other Republican senator, Roger Marshall, didn’t weigh in on the shooting on social media or in response to questions from The Star. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, also did not offer his opinion or share anything about the shooting online.
Under DHS guidelines updated in 2023, federal officers are only authorized to use deadly force on someone who “poses an imminent threat of death or serious injury” to the officer or another person.
For Cleaver, Congress and the state of Minnesota need to conduct independent investigations into the shooting. The longtime Democratic congressman said that the Trump administration’s appointees at the Department of Justice and DHS “have demonstrated a willingness to put partisanship above justice.”
“The administration’s immediate inclination to smear the reputation of Ms. Good by labeling her a domestic terrorist before any investigation could occur was incredibly irresponsible and un-American,” he said.
