Pierce, Thurston sheriffs trade insults over fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Thurston and Pierce sheriffs traded public Facebook attacks over ICE shooting.
- Sanders condemned mocking of the deceased; Swank defended his ‘X’ post.
- Sanders and Swank said their comments wouldn’t affect interagency cooperation.
The sheriffs of Pierce and Thurston counties on Jan. 8 exchanged biting words on Facebook about their responses to an ICE officer shooting and killing a woman in Minneapolis and their respective policing practices.
Without calling Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank out by name, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote in a post that he was disturbed that an elected sheriff had mocked the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on social media. Swank responded saying he wasn’t mocking her but was telling people not to resist police at the risk of being hurt or killed.
Swank said Sanders was a “coward” for not calling him out by name and that he stood by his social-media post.
The post in question was made Jan. 7 on X, where Swank shared an Associated Press story published on the Seattle Times website about the deadly shooting that day by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“PSA: if law enforcement tells you to stop. STOP. You can always sue later if your rights were violated. Even if you are right, do you want to be dead right?” Swank wrote.
Since Jan. 7, Swank has replied to posts from elected officials in Minnesota, Washington, Alaska and New York who have called videos of the shooting disturbing, called for thorough investigations, called for protests to be peaceful or said that ICE is putting people in danger. Swank said the officials were inciting violence and making it dangerous for law enforcement to work.
Sanders wrote in his post that law enforcement was “one of the most challenging professions on the planet.” But he said it wasn’t an excuse to not adapt tactics for safer outcomes, even when people the police are trying to arrest don’t follow commands.
“Even when justified, people being killed by law enforcement isn’t funny,” Sanders said on Facebook. “It’s not funny for the families of the deceased, it’s not funny for the family of the officer, and it’s not funny for the officers who pull the trigger. Mocking Renee’s death isn’t ‘provocative’, it’s small and unbecoming of even the lowest standards of elected office.”
Sanders on Friday evening apologized to the people of both counties and the employees of both sheriff’s offices, saying he’d been selfish in engaging in the exchange with Swank.
“I know I let both groups down last night by saying what felt good in the moment instead of doing what was best for everyone else,” he wrote. “It was selfish, and I’ll do better.”
Sheriffs say online jabs won’t affect law enforcement cooperation
In phone calls with The News Tribune, Sanders and Swank said their exchange would have no effect on their agency’s ability to work with one another on criminal matters. Sanders said he would help any sheriff’s office with investigations and emergent needs.
“At the end of the day, him and I just don’t agree on things,” Sanders said.
Swank said that won’t stop deputies and detectives from working together to solve crimes.
“It won’t affect the ability to work together because he and I aren’t working together, and so you don’t have to worry about that,” Swank said. “It’s the cops working together, and it’s fine.”
Each of the sheriffs stood by their online jabs. Sanders said he felt it necessary to respond to Swank’s post with his own because of Swank’s pattern of conduct online.
“I’ve actually been biting my tongue for quite some time,” Sanders said. “I would just leave it at that. At the end of the day it’s not personal for me, but also, I just found it highly inappropriate.”
Swank said Sanders could have left him alone and that his posts were about not interfering with law enforcement because doing so can put a person in danger.
“There’s politicians that are inciting violence,” Swank said. “They’re telling people that ICE officers aren’t human, that they don’t belong in a community. People are hearing that and they’re acting on that. We need to stop this and tone it down. It’s getting very violent out there and dangerous and people are losing their lives.”
The News Tribune asked Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello if he would comment on the sheriffs’ online feud.
“Renee Good’s death was tragic,” Mello said in an emailed statement. “Emotions are running high. Regardless of the person in the White House or the party in charge, the people of this country deserve certainty that no one is above the law. Any loss of life warrants thorough review and investigation. The Administration’s refusal to ensure federal officials are held to account should alarm us all.”
The chair of the Thurston County Board of Commissioners, Ty Menser, did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
Sheriff Swank, Sheriff Sanders trade insults
In his comment on Sanders’ post, Swank also alleged that Thurston County deputies had used unnecessary force on suspects and conducted vehicle pursuits for minor crimes, which Swank said had resulted in deaths and injuries.
“I hope the families of the innocent dead people and the one (that we know about) person you used excessive force on ask me to testify on their behalf,” Swank wrote. “You are an ‘altruistic’ narcissist who likes attention so you go out and commit bad law enforcement to show off.”
Sanders has defended his deputies’ use of vehicle pursuits in past Facebook posts. In November 2024, The Olympian reported that there had been five incidents that year resulting in death or injury following a pursuit.
At least two people died in wrecks following vehicle pursuits by Pierce County deputies in 2025. In June, a pursuit of a reckless driver near Parkland ended in a high-speed crash that killed a passenger in the suspect vehicle. In October a man with a warrant for his arrest from the Department of Corrections fled a traffic stop and ran a red light, striking another car and killing its driver.
Sanders responded to Swank’s comment about police practices in Thurston County with his own jabs at Swank.
“Maybe your private attorney can help you get sized for a vest that fits right so you can hit the road and show us all how modern police work is really done,” Sanders wrote. “Don’t forget, you can’t profile and hit people with a stick for having different colored skin anymore.”
The attorney Sanders referred to is Joan Mell, who has been sued by Prosecutor Mary Robnett for trying to represent Swank in his official business. The lawsuit recently roped in Swank as a defendant.
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 2:50 PM.
