On Jan. 7, a Minneapolis woman named Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Thanks to bystanders, millions quickly witnessed the event.
Good parked her vehicle on a residential street to obstruct an ICE operation. Good allowed four vehicles to pass while her partner questioned an agent walking around the vehicle.
Two ICE agents exited, commanding Good to “get out of the car.”
The agent speaking to Good’s partner shifted to the front driver’s side. One agent attempted to open Good’s door after she switched into reverse and then into drive. As Good attempted to steer away, noticeably attempting to avoid harming agents, the agent in front shot Good three times through the windshield.
In the following hours, it seemed everyone had something to say. People crafted their own narratives — Good was a saint or terrorist and Ross an American hero or murderer. Fortunately, many witnessed the events through raw video footage before anyone could divert the conversation.
Nevertheless, our regular agitators did what they do best — they lied and turned the situation into one benefitting their own agendas. Trump in a Truth Social post described Good as having “violently, willfully, and viciously r[un] over the ICE officer.” He also claimed the officer was acting in “self-defense.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called Good a “domestic terrorist” and said that Ross was simply “defend[ing] himself … and those individuals around him.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar framed Good simply as an innocent “legal observer.”
Had anyone not seen the footage from several angles before consuming these reactions, it would appear as if Good was some villain attempting to ruthlessly murder federal agents or an angel, with no in between.
This is far from the truth. Good was neither violent nor vicious; rather, she waved multiple cars on, including those of ICE agents. Confused and frightened, she attempted to drive off and veered her wheel away from the officer, at which point she was shot.
To title Good as some insurgent is not only entirely disingenuous — it’s entirely ludicrous.
Even worse, to defend Ross as some hero is absolutely disgusting in light of his actions. He endangered people around him by shooting into Good’s active vehicle and allowing it to accelerate freely away.
He proceeded to walk toward the vehicle, refused nearby medical care and told bystanders to call 911 as he and other agents fled the scene. Ross committed a felony by tampering with an active crime scene he created.
Of course, of the opposing claims being made about this situation, there are people who seek to turn Good into a martyr.
Good was a daughter, a mother, a partner, a friend and just your average person with no record of deviance; that said, she was not entirely innocent.
She was obstructing a federal operation and was caught between a rock and a hard place. She was breaking the law, but it is apparent she tried to correct herself, if only too late.
The weaponization of a civilian woman’s death as a means of division is certainly wrong. To frame Good or her killer purely as saint and sinner or vice versa is foolish. The truth is in the middle.
The most reasonable view of the situation is that Good was at most a petty criminal and otherwise a normal civilian, and Ross committed negligent homicide and felony tampering with a crime scene.
Good was clearly frightened, conflicted and confused. On some level, perhaps Ross too was afraid if only by the fact that his foot was some feet from an active vehicle. That said, the footage clearly indicates that Ross was prepared to shoot before Good attempted to turn.
There is a sadness here not only on the level of civilian death or the warping of a federal agency into a weapon, but also on the level of Good’s story being elevated above countless other murders by ICE.
We must admit this story grasped national attention due to Good’s whiteness. I’d imagine most, including myself, have looked at ICE as a threat to minorities more so than anyone else.
It’s easier to ignore injustice when it isn’t knocking at your door, but Good’s murder should encourage us to take a hard look at ourselves; moreover, we must examine our administration and its tools. They don’t have our best interests at heart. We must pay attention to other victims of ICE: Marimar Martinez, Carlos Jiminez and others.
Good’s death is a stark reminder that we are veering further away from individual critical thinking and increasingly closer to groupthink, which should frighten us.
Do not let your leaders think for you and do not assume they are making decisions with your best interests in mind — we are far beyond this in today’s America.
“If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” – Abraham Lincoln
Riley Sanders is a 19-year-old biology major from Denham Springs, La.
