The mother of Renee Good, the woman shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, renewed calls for accountability in the federal government as she testified on Capitol Hill.
Donna Genger says she initially believed in President Trump's immigration policy.
"I voted for President Trump under the impression that these agents were here to protect the citizens of the United States, innocents like our family, and the others here against terrorists," she explained. "Certainly not to accuse those of us here of being terrorists and take precious lives. This is madness."
The testimony came before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who jointly held the hearing to discuss the deaths of Good and Alex Pretti during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis this past winter.
Ganger joined other families of individuals killed by immigration agents in calling for laws to protect citizens and hold agents accountable.
"It is difficult to balance our gratitude for what a lovely soul Renee was," Ganger added. "With the anger and confusion at the violent way she died, and the total insanity of it all, she should still be alive. I'll say that again. My daughter should still be alive."
Three others have been shot by federal immigration agents since the crackdown on illegal immigration from the federal government began last year, including Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island, Texas, in March 2025; Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, in July; and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine in July.
"I am a registered Republican," Ganger told the committees on Tuesday. "But far more than being a Republican, I am a Christian. Jesus teaches us to forgive and I have, but what we are asking for is accountability."
The families all were asking Congress to enact laws to protect citizens and hold ICE accountable for the shootings.
Both Good and Pretti were shot during interactions with Immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Good was in her car stopped sideways in the street in South Minneapolis, which led an ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, to circle her vehicle on foot. Other agents approached, and one ordered her to get out of the car while reaching through her open window. Good briefly reversed, then began moving forward and to the right, into the direction of traffic. At this point, Ross was at the front-left of the vehicle which was turning away, when he fired three shots, killing her.
Pretti was filming law enforcement agents with his phone and directing traffic along Nicollet Avenue just south of downtown Minneapolis. At one point, he stood between an agent and a woman the agent had pushed to the ground, putting his arm around her. He was then pepper sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several federal agents, with around six surrounding him when he was shot and killed. Video later showed an agent pulling a gun from Pretti's holster before he was shot.
Pretti was licensed to carry a handgun and there is no video evidence the Pretti ever reached for his gun before agents shot him at least 10 times within seconds.
The killings of both Good and Pretti sparked national protests and multiple investigations.
“I want to particularly thank the Ganger family, Donna and Brent, and Stella, who was here in many ways, speaking for all of us from Minnesota,” said U.S. Senator Tina Smith (MN-D). “How do you move forward when there hasn’t been accountability for these crimes, and when there isn’t some sense that these agents going forward are going to be held accountable? Accountability and a free and fair investigation might be partisan issues inside this building, they are not partisan issues out in the country.”
