You Don’t Stop a Captured DOJ by Asking Nicely

The Fast, Ruthless, Lawful Way to Stop ICE From Killing People

You Don’t Stop a Captured DOJ by Asking Nicely

The Fast, Ruthless, Lawful Way to Stop ICE From Killing People

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #726: Saturday, January 10th, 2026.

Renee Good Didn’t Die Because Someone Lost Their Cool.

She died because the System Is Now Built To Protect Itself…even when it kills U.S. citizens.

We all saw it unfold in Minneapolis…on video, in the public square…in the outrage on the streets.

But here’s what the mainstream pundits aren’t aggressively talking about:

After an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good…a U.S. citizen…federal prosecutors yanked the case away from local and state authorities and put the FBI in total control of evidence, witnesses, and forensic materials.

That decision is not a mistake.
It is not an accident.
It is not something we fix with a press release…a candlelight vigil…or a congressional hearing.

It is structural protection.

From here on out…any strategy that assumes a fair federal investigation is like assuming the wolves will start guarding the sheep.

That is why this article is no longer about why Renee Good was killed.

It’s about how we stop the next one…and the one after that…with or without cooperation from Washington.

Before You Read Further

One quick thing before we begin.

What follows is not the product of some hidden…non-law-school legal expertise I have tucked away in a back pocket.

I don’t have that.

My actual expertise is simpler…and more honest: knowing which questions to ask… knowing who actually has the answers…and translating what they tell me into something readable and usable for people who don’t live inside courtroom… statutes…and footnotes.

I owe a real debt of gratitude to one of my closest friends…a former prosecutor…who has spent significant chunks of time…over the last several months…walking me through how these systems actually work when the federal government is hostile… captured…or…acting in bad faith.

It’s cost me a handful of steak dinners.

That feels like a very small price to pay for what I’ve been able to learn…pressure-test…write about…and then share with you.

Now…let’s get into it.

First: Let’s Be Very Clear What Just Happened

In any other context…a police shooting…a police killing…of a civilian…

…a state investigative agency immediately takes the lead.

Videos, witnesses…body-cam footage…forensic evidence…that’s all fair game.

But…not this time.

Shortly after Good was killed, federal authorities took unilateral control of the investigation and blocked Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) from accessing the evidence they need to build a proper…impartial probe.

The feds literally said:

“You can stand there, but you can’t see what we’re doing.”

That means the people who would normally compile video…talk to eyewitnesses… process the vehicle…and evaluate ballistics are now shut out.

And if the FBI (at the direction of a politically aligned DOJ) refuses to hand anything over?
State prosecutors and local authorities are left empty-handed.

This is not cooperation.
This is control.

This is how justice gets prevented…not denied, prevented.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

Let’s strip away the euphemisms:

• A U.S. citizen was shot dead in broad daylight.

• Multiple videos make reasonable people doubt federal narratives.

• Local authorities wanted to investigate.

• The federal government blocked them from doing so.

That’s not just “jurisdictional dispute.”
That’s evidence control.
That’s prosecution prevention.
That’s narrative dominance.

This is what happens when the power structure….is aligned to protect its own.

And now every conceivable strategy that relies on the DOJ doing the right thing…is effectively off the table.

So we have to go around it.

How You Actually Stop This (Even If the FBI Refuses to Share Evidence)

The strategy has to be external, structural…

…and built on leverage the federal government doesn’t control.

Not hope.
Not good faith.
Not cooperation.

Pressure.
Law.
Risk.
Exposure.

Here’s the new playbook:

1) Treat It as a State Homicide Investigation Anyway-With Every Tool at Our Disposal

The FBI can own the official probe.

But state and local prosecutors can conduct their own investigation in parallel.

They do not need federal cooperation to:

• subpoena videos from private citizens

• interview eyewitnesses

• obtain footage from bystanders

• collect third-party recordings

• file civil discovery

• gather medical records

• interview citizens willing to talk

None of that evidence is magically federal property.

The only thing the feds have blocked is access to the evidence THEY collected.

Everything else…every phone recording…every dashcam…every ring doorbell…is still in the hands of the public.

That’s where the next phase of evidence gathering starts; from the ground up…not from the top down.

2) Use Civil Discovery as the True Investigative Engine

Here’s the piece the feds hope you miss:

Civil suits force discovery.

Even if a federal agent is shielded from criminal prosecution (and they’re not necessarily…more on that below), civil litigation opens up:

• sworn depositions

• document production

• cross-examination of policies

• internal emails

• training manuals

• after-action reports

• chain-of-command communications

Federal immunity arguments can be raised…but…they generally do not win before discovery is complete.

If your lawyers subpoena the ICE training manuals…and the agent’s emails…and the rules of engagement…those documents can be used in:

• civil liability cases

• administrative complaints

• state disciplinary proceedings

• public disclosure

• political pressure

Discovery is the hammer.

3) Choke the Logistical Infrastructure They Rely On

ICE doesn’t operate in a vacuum.

They depend on:

• local facility access

• state databases (DMV, criminal history)

• leased spaces

• transportation vendors

• medical support providers

• mutual aid agreements

State and local governments can lawfully withdraw support…services…and access wherever federal law does not require it.

In practical terms, that means:

• No local jail services without proper warrants

• No DMV database access for immigration purposes

• No transportation contracts

• No leased office space on public property

• Curfews/limitations on operating hours

You don’t have to “defeat them.”
You just make doing the same aggressive raids slower…costlier…more constrained… and more visible.

That reduces harm…fast.

4) Bring Parallel State Criminal Proceedings

This is the part the feds fear most:

State prosecutors can pursue criminal charges against federal agents…even if the FBI controls the official investigation. (Read that again.)

That’s because under the Constitution…federal supremacy does not protect unconstitutional conduct.

If an agent’s use of force was not:

1. Authorized by federal law,
   AND

2. Constitutionally reasonable,

…then immunity doesn’t apply.

Real prosecutors would argue:

“You can claim self-defense all you want…but you took the evidence…blocked local access…and now are refusing to justify your version under oath.”

That turns criminal defense into a nightmare for the “official” narrative.

5) Harness Public Exposure and Narrative Pressure

Here’s the part that makes lawyers win:

There is no strategy that works without public awareness.

Once you:

• get evidence out into the world

• show conflicting videos

• expose obstruction

• chronicled federal interference

…you force a political response.

And the political response creates:

• more witnesses coming forward

• more photos/video flooding in

• more civil suits

• more subpoenas

• more pressure on elected officials

Public narrative is not fluff…it shifts leverage…powerfully so.

Don’t underestimate it.

The Bottom Line

Justice is no longer something the federal government grants.

Justice is something you force through law…litigation…and public accountability.

Renee Good’s death was not just a tragedy…it was a warning.

A warning that:

• the federal government will protect its own

• evidence can be hidden

• cooperation can be withheld

• narratives can be manufactured

If we let that be the dominant system of justice…then civilians die…and nothing changes.

So here’s the real question:

Are you going to wait for the feds to hand you the truth?
Or are you going to demand accountability in every courthouse…every media cycle… every subpoena… every protest…and every election?

Because the only strategy that works without relying on the DOJ is this:

Push from the outside in.
Make evidence emerge under oath.
Make obstruction legally and politically costly.
Choke the logistics they rely on.
Put risk on the table for the next killing, not the last one.

If you’re not prepared to fight like that…on the ground…in court…and in the public square…then nothing actually changes.

And the next Renee Good is already in motion.

How, Exactly, Do State Prosecutors Fight Back Against ICE?

(Let’s reiterate…and expand on what is discussed…up until now.)

Again, let’s get something out of the way immediately.

While I’ve already stated this once, it’s worthy of repeating: If your plan for stopping federal abuse relies on the Department of Justice to police itself…you don’t have a plan.

You have a prayer.

And prayers…are not legal strategies.

Because here’s the reality we’re all dancing around:

Donald Trump effectively owns the DOJ.
Not symbolically. Not rhetorically. Operationally.

Which means every “reasonable” proposal that assumes good-faith federal oversight is already dead on arrival.

So let’s stop pretending otherwise.

This section of the article is about what happens after you accept that fact.

The Fatal Mistake Everyone Keeps Making

Every time ICE escalates.
Every time another civilian dies.
Every time a U.S. citizen gets swept up…brutalized, or killed…

The same reflex kicks in:

“The DOJ must investigate.”
“There needs to be federal accountability.”
“Congress should step in.”

That reflex made sense five years ago.

Today, it’s worse than naïve.
It’s paralyzing.

Because while people wait for federal accountability that will never come…the violence continues.

So, a prosecutor who has actually tried hard cases…taken on corrupt systems…and won…was asked a different question:

What is the fastest, most aggressive, fully lawful way to stop ICE from operating like a domestic paramilitary force…without relying on the DOJ at all?

What they came back with is not polite.

It is not comforting.

And it is not designed to make cable news panels happy.

It is designed to work.

The Strategic Shift That Changes Everything

Here’s the key insight most commentators miss:

You don’t stop a captured federal executive branch from the inside.
You stop it from the outside…in court…in states…in logistics…and in daylight.

This is not about “abolishing ICE.”
This is not about immigration policy debates.
This is about immediate behavioral constraint.

The goal is simple:

Make unconstitutional violence legally dangerous…operationally expensive…and personally terrifying for the people ordering it.

And you do that fast.

Step One: Emergency Court Control (Days, Not Months)

The first move has nothing to do with Congress.

It happens in court.

Temporary Restraining Orders That Bite

State attorneys general, cities, counties, and private plaintiffs file targeted TROs against specific ICE practices, not abstract policy.

Not “immigration enforcement is bad.”

But things like:

• Warrantless home entries

• Dragnet-style stops without individualized probable cause

• Masked agents refusing identification

• Failure to render medical aid

• Deceptive “consent” tactics at residences

• Use-of-force standards that violate the Fourth Amendment

These TROs demand bright-line operational rules enforceable by contempt:

• Visible agent identification

• Mandatory body camera use

• Judicial warrants for non-public spaces

• Immediate medical intervention protocols

• Full evidence preservation orders

This matters because contempt powers don’t care who owns the DOJ.

Judges still enforce their orders.

And when federal agencies violate them…the paper trail gets ugly fast.

Step Two: Treat Every Death Like a Homicide (Because It Is)

Here’s where the strategy gets uncomfortable for Washington.

States do not need federal permission to investigate deaths.

When ICE actions result in civilian fatalities…including U.S. citizens…states should respond exactly as they would to an officer-involved shooting by local police.

That means:

• State-led criminal investigations

• Independent medical examiners

• State subpoenas for witnesses…footage…ballistics…dispatch logs

• State grand juries where allowed

Will Supremacy Clause defenses eventually be raised?

Of course.

That’s not the point.

The point is evidence lock-in.

Because once evidence is gathered under state authority:

• it doesn’t disappear,

• it doesn’t get “lost,”

• and it doesn’t stay buried in federal internal reviews.

Every sworn statement narrows the story.
Every document preserved increases risk.
Every contradiction becomes leverage.

Step Three: Personal Civil Jeopardy-Immediately

This is where behavior actually changes.

Not press conferences.
Not statements of concern.

Personal liability.

Victims’ families and civil rights attorneys file state wrongful death…assault…and negligence suits-fast.

Why state court?

Because in many states:

• discovery moves faster,

• judges are closer to the harm,

• and immunities are narrower or fact-dependent.

These cases target:

• individual agents,

• supervisors,

• planners,

• and training failures up the chain.

Even when immunity defenses are raised…discovery happens first.

Depositions.
Documents.
Policies.
Training manuals.

That’s where the real exposure lives.

Step Four: Cut the Oxygen

This is the part that actually stops operations in real time.

ICE does not operate in a vacuum.

It relies on:

• local facilities,

• data access,

• contracts,

• leases,

• cooperative agreements,

• transportation,

• medical services.

States and cities can lawfully:

• Terminate optional task-force MOUs

• Require judicial warrants for access to jails…hospitals…shelters

• Cut off access to state databases

• Impose time/place/manner restrictions on facility access

• Cancel leases and service contracts where legally permissible

This doesn’t “defy federal law.”

It enforces state control over state resources.

And when the support infrastructure disappears…operations slow…narrow..and become less aggressive…because recklessness becomes logistically harder.

The Truth About Why This Works

Here’s what the armchair commentators won’t tell you:

Authoritarian behavior survives on speed…opacity…and fragmentation.

This strategy attacks all three.

• Courts slow things down.

• Evidence preservation kills opacity.

• Multi-state coordination breaks fragmentation.

And most importantly…

It shifts risk downward.

From abstract “the agency”
to real humans with names…emails…mortgages…and careers.

That’s when behavior changes.

The Four-Part Combination That Actually Stops Violence

If you do nothing else, do this:

1. Emergency TROs with enforceable operational rules

2. State-led death investigations that lock evidence immediately

3. Fast civil litigation targeting command-level failures

4. Aggressive withdrawal of non-mandated state/local support

That combination hits:

• legality,

• liability,

• logistics,

• and narrative…

all at once.

And…it does not require a single good-faith actor inside Trump’s DOJ.

Final Thought

History is not kind to people who say:

“We didn’t know what to do.”

The playbook exists.
The law allows it.
The tools are already on the table.

What’s been missing is the willingness…to stop pretending the DOJ is coming to save us.

It isn’t.

Which means the responsibility…and the power…has shifted.

To states.
To courts.
To lawyers willing to move fast.
And…to citizens who understand that constitutional defense is not passive.

This…is how you stop it.

Not later.

Now.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack
Jack Hopkins