The 37-year-old was fatally shot by Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on January 7, with the Trump administration claiming that Renee was a ‘domestic terrorist’ and was attempting to kill the ICE officer.
Released video footage has challenged this narrative, as Renee could be seen attempting to drive away from the scene when Ross shot her three times.
Following the incident, a donation page for Ross was set up, with one of the top donations coming from Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager and founder of the investment management company Pershing Square Capital Management. The billionaire confirmed he donated a staggering $10,000 to the GoFundMe.
Ackman began by explaining he didn’t ‘do any due diligence on the case’ before making the recent financial donation.He penned on X: “My donation to Ross has been characterised in social media by the press as my ‘giving a reward to the murderer of Renee Good’ likely in an effort to generate clicks and boost virality, and by some to advance their political objectives.”
The billionaire said he has been ‘widely reviled (and worse) by many on social and mainstream media’ since donating the staggering sum and even explained how he tried to donate to Renee’s fundraiser.
Ackman added: “My purpose in supporting Ross and attempting to support Good was not to make a political statement. I was simply continuing my longstanding commitment to assisting those accused of crimes of providing for their defense.”The billionaire went on to say that ‘only a detailed forensic investigation by experts’ would reveal exactly what happened, before stating the donation to Ross and his family was a chance for the ICE agent to have ‘funds needed for his defence’.
He went on to say the ‘social media era’ we live in has changed the public’s perception of innocence, adding: “In a typical case, the entire world believes you are guilty. You quickly become unemployed and unemployable. You and your family suffer from extreme public scorn in addition to severe financial pressure.”
Ackman then claimed: “You are immediately doxed. You receive hundreds of death threats.
“You and your family’s safety is seriously threatened, some of your friends and family abandon you, and your public life basically ends while you wait years to have an opportunity to defend yourself in court.”
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres has made a rare political statement and weighed in on the protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Minneapolis.
The protests that followed the death of mom Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot while driving away from ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7, have joined elected officials in calling on the federal agency to leave the state.
Late last night (January 19), President Donald Trump blasted protesters in Minneapolis for interrupting a church service to protest ICE’s presence and demand ‘justice for Renee Good’, claiming that they were illegitimate, paid, and ‘highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics’.
But as anger in the Twin Cities continues unabated, former chat show host DeGeneres has backed the local residents, saying on Instagram: “I am so sorry for what is happening in Minneapolis and our country really, but specifically in Minneapolis right now because it’s where I shot my last stand up special.”DeGeneres said that ‘everyone there could not have been more lovely,’ when she was filming her 2024 Netflix special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval.
“I shot it there because they say it’s the happiest city in America,” she added to the camera.
Her comments came on Sunday (January 18), just a day before the church protest that has caused US Attorney General Pam Bondi to threaten activists with the ‘full force of federal law’ for interrupting the service – which had an ICE official in attendance.
The 67-year-old former TV host showed solidarity with the protests in her supportive post, saying: “So my thoughts and my prayers are going out to everyone, and I’m proud of everyone who’s protesting peacefully.”
She went on to say: “I am sorry for anyone who has been hurt just for protesting, for doing what you should be doing.”
It is DeGeneres’ most revealing post about Good’s killing by ICE agent and military vet Ross, following her update the day before sharing a statement from the late mom’s wife, Becca Good.
She kept her opinion short in that post, which showed a picture of Good with the simple caption: “I’m so sad, and so angry, and so worried.”
That was followed by the heart-rending tribute from Becca, which was originally shared with MPR News and reads: “If you ever encountered my wife, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, you know that above all else, she was kind. In fact, kindness radiated out of her.
“Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.
“Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow. Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.
“We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine.
“On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has responded to Joe Rogan’s criticisms.
On a recent episode of his very popular podcast, Rogan discussed the killing of Renee Nicole Smith and the ICE raids that have been taking place in Minneapolis and the rest of America.
Chatting with Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the podcaster said about Good’s ‘horrific’ death: “After that woman was shot, unfortunately, I mean, everything’s unfortunate about it. But one of the real problems is now, ICE are villains. And now people are looking at them like murderous, military people, that run the streets of our city.
“They’re masked up, which is also a problem, right, because if you get arrested by a cop, you’re allowed to ask the cop, ‘what is your name and badge number?’ And you could film that cop.”Rogan went on: “But if you get arrested by an ICE agent, you have no such right, you’re wearing a mask, they don’t have to tell you sh*t. That’s a problem, that’s a problem on our city streets, right?”
Elsewhere, Rogan said he understood why people don’t want militarized people in the streets ‘snatching people up’ and noted that these people often end up being US citizens that just happened to have not had their papers on them.
He added: “Are we really going to be the Gestapo? ‘Where are you’re papers?'”
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, was asked about Rogan’s take on it all on Fox News, who played a clip of his podcast for her.
Asking for her responds to his remarks, McLaughlin shared: “If Tim Walz and Mayor [Jacob] Frey would let us in their jails, we wouldn’t have to be there at all.”
She continued: “Currently there are 680 illegal aliens that includes murderers, that includes rapists, child pedophiles, people who, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you would never want these people to be on your streets or [to be] your neighbors.
“That’s the people who we are targeting and we’re trying to get out of Minneapolis, because we don’t have state and local law enforcement’s help, we have to have a physical presence on the ground there.”
McLaughlin doubled down on the idea that if state law enforcement helped the FBI and ICE with their investigations then Americans would be better off.
“We want to give accountability for it and we want to give answers,” she concluded.
