After Renee Good was shot the agent called her, I quote, a ‘f*cking b*tch’ on camera. Yes or no, is this how your agents are trained to act?” Gallego asked Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott.
“No sir,” conceded Scott.
That blunt opening salvo out of the way, Gallego then dug into the meat of his well-founded criticisms—
“Director Lyons, you are trained in weapons handling, correct?” Gallego asked Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
“Yes, sir,” said Lyons.
“If you look at the Rene Good shooting, why is the agent holding a camera phone and a weapon at the same time?” asked Gallego.
“So sir, I don’t want to comment on the ongoing investigation just because that’s still being determined at this time, but can I just go back to one thing, sir, that you mentioned?” said Lyons.
“No, I want to ask a further question on this. Has there ever been an order to any agents, CBP agents in Minnesota or other places, for them to be recording on their personal phones to essentially be somewhat social influencers or to pass the media on up?” asked Gallego. “Has there ever been any orders given for agents to be recording while they’re doing these stops or engaging with the public?”
“Sir, there’s never been an order to do that,” admitted Lyons. “Agents have used it as far as if they were going to make an arrest on, say an agitator, the U.S. attorney was requiring to have video leading up to the event. So officers have reused that for that.”
“For video from a handheld, from a phone?” asked Gallego.
“If they had a body camera available from the body camera or from any type of recording device,” said Lyons.
“The reason there’s a difference because the body cam is designed for a police officer or law enforcement to engage while still being able to have full scope of knowledge of what’s happening, be able to detain, be able to escalate if they need to escalate,” pointed out Gallego. “What I saw and what the world saw for me is the fact that there was an agent that was moving around a vehicle with a camera phone recording and his hand on the weapon.”
“In what world, in what training, between all of your training in weapons handling, have you ever been taught the appropriate use of holding a weapon and at the same time recording on a camera phone?” asked Gallego. “Did you have any of that type of training at all in your time in ICE, law enforcement, or through CBP?”
Gallego himself is a former Marine who served in Iraq, so he is well-acquainted with the proper use of firearms. In no situation would it make sense for someone to be using a camera phone while also wielding a weapon. The staggering lack of discipline dispolayed bby Good’s killer Jonathan Ross underlines just how poorly trained these ICE agents are. They delight in violence but that’s not enough for them, they also want to film it.
“No, sir, I haven’t,” Lyons told Gallego. “But again, you know, we look at every instance no matter what it is so…
“So shouldn’t there be some kind of command or directive that comes down from CBP headquarters knowing that this is unprofessional conduct that probably created and put the officer and probably the civilian in a situation that ended up escalating to a shooting, that maybe you shouldn’t be holding a camera trying to be influencer and wielding a weapon at the same time?” said Gallego. “That is a professional code of conduct as law enforcement, as military, you would never do that because you know you cannot handle a weapon, assess the situation, and be able to determine to escalate or deescalate.”
“Did you issue any type of direction after Ms. Good was shot saying that this is not what you should be doing or we’re just accepting that this is going to continue going forward?” asked Gallego.
“No, sir, there was nothing issued because we do hold our individuals accountable,” Lyons said weakly.
Gallego should be commended for zeroing in on this particular facet of the Good killing. The Trump administration has tried to smear an innocent mother by claiming that her killer felt endangered by her actions. But if that were the case, Ross wouldn’t have been comfortable enough to film the entire encounter. The truth is that this agent was excited by the prospect of finally getting to use his gun on someone and he seized the opportunity. He should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law
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