ICE agent Jonathan Ross' suspected home gets Google privacy boost
A property linked online to the federal agent identified in court records in the fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good appears blurred on Google’s Street View imagery.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross, 43, has been identified as the masked man seen firing on the 37-year-old's vehicle in Minneapolis in viral video footage taken on January 7. Her death occurred during the Minnesota-focused federal immigration enforcement operation "Operation Metro Surge."
Public records reviewed by Newsweek list a man with the same name and age at the blurred address.
Social media posts reviewed by Newsweek identified the address as belonging to the agent. Newsweek is not revealing the address to avoid amplifying personal information that could place residents at risk. Federal officials have warned that publishing agents’ personal information online (also known as doxxing) can endanger them and their families.
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A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, told Newsweek that doxxing agents puts them and their families "in serious danger."
"Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists. Now, thanks to the malicious rhetoric of sanctuary politicians, they are under constant threat from violent agitators," the spokesperson said. "They are experiencing coordinated campaigns of violence against them and facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats. Publicizing their identities puts their lives and the lives of their families at serious risk.”
Newsweek reached out to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis via email on Wednesday for comment. The Department of Justice declined to comment.
Why It Matters
The DHS has repeatedly said the number of doxxing, threats and assaults against immigration agents has increased in the wake of highly publicized enforcement actions, including the one in which Good was killed.
Officials have warned that identifying or publicizing agents' personal information online can endanger agents and their families, and have cited doxxing risks when declining to confirm details to the news media about agents involved in operations.
More than two months since the shooting, no criminal charges in connection with the shooting have been announced. Federal officials have said there is currently no basis for a civil rights investigation into the officer's actions.
What To Know
Federal officials have not publicly named the agent who shot Good, but said he was injured when dragged by a car in June. Court papers from a case with matching details named ICE veteran Jonathan Ross.
The property listed for a person of the same name appears to have been obscured using Google Street View's blur feature, which "must be accompanied by a document with proof of address," according to the company's customer support website.
"If an image contains inappropriate content, or you prefer your home not be shown, you can request it to be blurred," a message reads. "Once Google blurs your home, the blur is permanent. Only the home owner or tenant is eligible to request a house blur."
The blurring feature is commonly used by homeowners to limit public visibility of their property, and Google allows similar requests to have homes, car license plates, or other identifying details permanently removed from its imagery.
Google does not disclose when such requests are made. Consequently, it is unclear when the blur was applied.
An independent autopsy commissioned by the family of Renée Good found she was shot at least three times, sustaining wounds to her head, arm and breast, lawyers for the family announced about two weeks after her death.
Days later, on January 24, federal agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shot and killed 37‑year‑old Alex Pretti, also in Minneapolis.
Pretti, a registered intensive care unit nurse for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot multiple times by CBP officers during an immigration enforcement operation in the Whittier neighborhood of the city.
Both killings sparked nationwide protests and calls for investigations from local leaders and activists, while federal officials have defended the officers' conduct.
More than 300 former federal prosecutors and civil rights attorneys wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on February 4, urging her to allow state and local authorities in Minnesota to conduct independent investigations into the fatal shootings of Good and Pretti. The Department of Justice declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
What People Are Saying
Then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release in December: "Our ICE law enforcement officers face an 8,000% increase in death threats against them while they risk their lives every single day to remove the worst of the worst including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members.
"From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families. Secretary Noem has been clear: if you threaten or lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
May you like
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, told Fox News on January 18: "The Department of Justice doesn’t just stand up and investigate because some congressman thinks we should, because some governor thinks that we should."
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, in a news release on February 2: "The federal government has been clear that they are not conducting an investigation into Renée Good’s death. But we are. We require these records as part of our ongoing thorough investigation into her death at the hands of a federal agent, Jonathan Ross."
