Renee Good’s former father-in-law has revealed he does not blame the ICE officer who brutally killed her.
Timmy Macklin is the father of Good’s late ex-husband Tim and grandfather to her 6-year-old son Emerson. Tim Macklin Jr., her second husband, died in 2003.
Good, 37, was fatally shot in the head by an ICE officer on Jan. 7 while driving in Minneapolis with her wife Becca. The officer, Jonathan Ross, called Good a “f--king b---h” while she was labelled a “domestic terrorist” by the Trump administration.
Speaking on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront on Tuesday, Macklin clarified he was a Trump supporter and said he believed the circumstances around Good’s death were “hard for everybody involved.”
“I’m not blaming anybody,” Macklin said. “I mean, the ICE agent, you know, at first I didn‘t see the footage where... he was actually being rammed. I mean, I‘ve seen the bumper of the car hitting his legs. And so in a flash like that, it‘s hard to say how you would react.”
Footage of the incident has caused contention between the Trump administration, who say Good was deliberately ramming the ICE agent with her vehicle, and the public. Trump has attempted to justify the incident in the aftermath, while questions have been raised over whether deadly force was necessary.
The deeply religious Macklin said Good’s wife, Becca, was “a great person”, but added, “I think there’s some bad choices... if we’re walking in the spirit of God, I don’t think she would have been there. That’s the way I look at it.”
He said of Good, “Do I agree with everything that she did? Absolutely not.”
Macklin added that there was “so much chaos in the world today” and quoted Bible passages about turning from wicked ways to walking towards God.
He also suggested that ICE agent Ross, who fatally shot Good, needs to turn to the Bible.
“His statement that he made after the incident, the things he called her, I mean, that‘s definitely showing evidence that he that he don‘t know the Lord like he should,” Macklin said of the “f--king b---h” insults.
On CBS Evening News on Tuesday, anchor Tony Dokoupil told the president that he had spoken to Good’s biological father, whom he did not name. The host said her father is a Trump voter, despite his daughter’s apparent opposition to ICE.
“I’ve been speaking to her father, who is a big supporter of yours, like many Americans are, but he’s heartbroken right now,” Dokoupil said. “He’s also heartbroken because your administration so quickly has come out and said she’s a domestic terrorist.”
Trump said, “Well, I want to say to the father that I love all of our people. They can be on the other side, as you say, he might be on my side. And I think that’s great.”
The president said of Good, “I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person. But her actions were pretty tough. I’ve seen it many ways and many different shapes and forms.”
Burnett played Trump’s message to Macklin, who said, “I’m a Trump supporter myself.”
He added, “Renee was an amazing person, she was full of life, full of joy, a real gentle, good mother. I just think we make bad choices and that’s the problem.”
Macklin said Good’s 6-year-old son is “amazing, he’s really smart,” but said he has not seen him since the ICE shooting.
During OutFront on Tuesday, Burnett asked Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara about Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s latest comments about the killing of Good.
On Tuesday, Blanche said there was “currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation” into ICE officer Ross.
O’Hara said it is typical in cases where deadly force was used to have a “full and thorough” investigation into whether the use of that force was justified.
“It‘s also necessary to ensure that there aren‘t any changes that need to be made, potentially to agency policy or agency practices. So, to not have an investigation at all is totally at odds with what typically happens.”
