I never thought I would say this, but a conservative judge actually made sense on Newsmax.
Former Judge Andrew Napolitano went on the network Thursday and admitted something the MAGA crowd usually refuses to hear.
He argued that the ICE agent who shot Renee Nicole Good to death in Minneapolis should be charged.
It seems that even in the right wing echo chamber, facts are becoming hard to ignore.
The Video Tells the Story
Usually, these commentators bend over backwards to justify law enforcement violence.
But Napolitano pointed to specific evidence that destroys the usual narrative.
He noted that Good appeared to be trying to steer away from the agent when he shot her through the windshield.
“There is a video showing her turning the wheel to the right, as if to avoid him,” he explained.
Napolitano didn’t mince words about the legal implications of that video.
“If the jury inferred that she tried to avoid him, then his shooting of her is criminal,” he remarked.
“If the jury infers something else, then it would depend on what the inference is.”
It turns out that shooting a woman who is trying to get away from you might actually be a crime.
Video of the Minneapolis ICE shooting completely contradicting ICE's account that the driver was trying to ram anyone. Looks like they were turning around to leave, and immediately lit up pic.twitter.com/PwUZkPkIVt
— Abject Zero (@AbjectZero) January 7, 2026
The Legal Reality Check
Napolitano was clear about what should happen next.
“If he is charged with a crime, as I think he should be, under Minnesota law, a jury will decide this,” he stated.
Of course, he had to mention the get out of jail free card known as qualified immunity.
He noted a judge could decide “the evidence is so one-sided, he has qualified immunity, and therefore we’re not going to proceed with the prosecution.”
But the host, Shaun Kraisman, seemed desperate for a federal intervention.
“If he does face state charges, is there any way that on a federal level, the DOJ could get involved in this?” host Shaun Kraisman asked.
Napolitano had to shut that down quickly.
“The DOJ would probably prefer this to be in federal court,” Napolitano acknowledged.
“But there is no way that I’m aware of that they can, that a federal judge can take the case away from a state court.”
State Sovereignty Rules
He reminded the viewers that states actually have rights too.
“The state is a sovereign itself,” he continued.
“The state prosecution, if there is one, would have to play out and reach its conclusion in the Minnesota state courts and then go to the U.S. Supreme Court before the feds could get involved.”
It is refreshing to see a conservative admit that an agent of the state should be held accountable.
Let’s just hope the justice system actually listens to him.
