Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty reminded Americans this week what commonsense conservatives have always insisted: don’t let outrage outrun the facts. On the Fox program “Sunday Night in America” he urged the public to wait for the evidence to be released before drawing sweeping conclusions about the second ICE-involved shooting, a call that should make every patriot uncomfortable with mob verdicts. Responsible governance requires facts first, fury later.
What we know so far is grim and straightforward — a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, identified as Renee Nicole Good, was shot and later died after an encounter with federal immigration officers on January 7, 2026. Local and national outlets have published video from the scene and municipal officials report a chaotic scene in a residential neighborhood as ICE carried out an operation. The tragedy has torn the city apart and forced a national reckoning over how federal enforcement is being carried out in American communities.
Independent video analysis made available to the public shows a few harrowing seconds: a federal agent firing multiple shots as the vehicle begins to move, with some footage indicating the driver was turning away in the moments before being struck. The technical timelines reported by major news organizations describe three quick shots in under a second and capture the confusion and rapid escalation that followed. Those raw images are wrenching and deserve careful, sober scrutiny rather than the instant, partisan verdicts that dominate social feeds.
The federal response has only made matters murkier: the Department of Justice concluded there was no basis for a civil rights probe at this stage, several federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned in protest, and state investigators say they have been denied full access to key evidence. That sequence of events breeds suspicion on all sides and gives every American reason to demand transparency from the very agencies sworn to protect the public. If the government won’t be forthcoming, it hands the narrative to those who will spin it for political gain.
Conservatives should be clear-eyed: we stand with law enforcement and the rule of law, and we support the right of federal agents to do their jobs where the law allows. But that support is not blind. It is patriotic to insist that any use of lethal force be fully documented, independently reviewed, and — if misconduct is found — prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Pawlenty’s plea for patience is not a dodge; it’s a reminder that liberty depends on impartial institutions, not rushes to partisan judgment.
Yet there is another conservative worry here: federal operations conducted without meaningful local cooperation erode trust and invite chaos. The Justice Department’s recent moves in Minnesota, including staff redeployments and subpoenas tied to immigration enforcement, have intensified local pushback and legal fights over jurisdiction. If Washington wants compliance and calm, it must earn it by showing evidence and respecting the rule-of-law procedures the public expects.
So let every American — liberal, conservative, and undecided — demand the same thing: get the facts out, protect the integrity of the investigation, and let the law do its work. We can be strong on border enforcement and also unyielding about transparency; those are not contradictory positions but the very heart of responsible conservatism. In the absence of full disclosure, cynical partisans on both extremes will fill the vacuum, and that is the last thing this grieving family and the country need.
