Yesterday, an ICE agent fired into a moving vehicle to kill Renee N. Good, a 37-year-old mother of a 6-year-old. To add to the tragedy, Good was a widow whose husband died in 2023, meaning the surviving child has now lost both parents in the span of less than 3 years.
In my view, which I believe the video evidence clearly corroborates, this was an unnecessary and unjustified execution of an American citizen who, at worst, temporarily blocked ICE vehicles on a Minneapolis street. This is what happens when an administration unnecessarily unleashes poorly trained, armed agents on the populace to enforce unpopular policies. Further, it shows that the priority is terrorizing citizens and noncitizens alike into compliance and elevates violence, including lethal violence, as a key tool of state power.
Make no mistake: these actions, combined with the reactions by Trump, Noem, and others with power (as well as their media surrogates), are hallmarks of authoritarian governance and they are fascistic by definition. None of this is hyperbole, although I am sure that defenders of the administration who seek to rationalize their way in accepting the “official” version will accuse this assessment of being alarmist. If you read this and think that, in fact, the violence and the lying are justified, I would suggest some self-introspection.
I am not going to say that mine is a thoroughly dispassionate assessment, as I will admit to being genuinely upset about this incident. Not only is it an utterly unjust act perpetrated against a citizen, but it is yet another disturbing landmark on our national march towards illiberalism. But I will say that my assessment, that the shooting combined with officials blatantly lying, is a hallmark of fascistic authoritarianism that further signals our decline into illiberalism, is a professional one, regardless of my more emotional views of the event.
I sincerely grieve for Good and for our country.
As a side note, and to be clear, I am well aware of the past examples of law enforcement using non-compliance as a justification for fatal shooting (for example, see my 2020 post, Should Noncompliance be a Capital Offense?). So, sadly, this general attitude has been encoded in American society for some time. I think this shooting is more raw because it is linked to a federal deployment of agents who seem to care little about the niceties of due process, and who are clearly acting as part of a xenophobic and racist set of policies. Moreover, this killing was perhaps in response to a very mild form of civil disobedience. It is a commentary on America’s history with this sort of incident that I have to sadly admit that I hope the fact that this was a blond, White woman, instead of a Black male, will garner more attention than is normally the case.
Let’s look at the details.
Here’s a slow-motion version of the shooting.
See also the following, which I fully recommend:
It is blatantly obvious to me that the following things are true:
- She was not attempting to use the vehicle as a weapon. (Look at her wheels–she is clearly trying to drive away). What would you do if masked men were yelling at you?
- She was not otherwise armed.
- The ICE agent who was roughly in front of the car could have easily stepped out of harm’s way if he thought he was in any jeopardy. Also, if you watch the NYT video, you can see that the ICE operative who killed Good was casually filming her car with his phone in his left hand right before he pulled his weapon.
- The worst thing she could possibly be said to have done is temporarily impeding the ICE vehicles on this road. But, I would note, that before the confrontation began, she was not fully blocking the road, and was waving vehicles past. Ultimately, she was not much more than an annoyance to ICE.
None of that justifies her execution.
Here’s a clip of her waving cars through before the shooting (which can also be seen in the NYT piece):
It seems worth pointing out that NPR reported this morning that an eyewitness reported that contradictory orders were shouted at Goode, including orders to stop and orders to move the vehicle.
Here’s another eyewitness account:
I cannot stress enough that the idea that simple noncompliance with law enforcement carries the penalty of summary execution in this country is grossly unjust, if not simply evil. And yet far too many Americans are okay with that.
For example, a member of Congress:
For emphasis, please read again: “The bottom line is this: when a federal officer gives you instructions, you abide by them, and then you get to keep your life.”
Non-compliance equals summary execution. Because, you know, feds can take your life whenever they want, so if you want to keep it, comply!
And people think it is unfair to call them fascists…
Meanwhile, just like Hunt, Noem and Trump were actively engaged in lying about what happened (source).
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the woman was “stalking and impeding” officers throughout the day and tried to “weaponise her vehicle” in an attempt to run over the officer in an act of “domestic terrorism”.
The federal agent fired “defensive shots” and was himself injured, Noem said, before he was treated and discharged from a local hospital.
Trump, of course, had to escalate even further.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said an ICE officer was “viciously” run over. “It is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital,” he wrote.
Here’s the whole post:
Not only is it pretty clear that Good was trying to drive away and not toward the ICE agent, but he could easily have moved out of the path of the vehicle and, indeed, calmly walked away after the incident. Nothing in the video above or other videos shows anything that suggests an injury.
Here is a post-shooting clip of the man in question (it is the same maroon colored face-covering, and he still has his phone in his left hand):
To put it bluntly, ICE murdered a woman right in front of our noses because this administration has decided that rounding up as many immigrants as possible is their paramount mission, and violence is entirely justified if all persons, citizens or no, don’t respect their authority in as obsequious a manner as possible.
No wonder these guys wear face coverings.
The administration wants its followers to reject “the evidence of [their] eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Make no mistake, that is exactly what is going on here.
I would note that the lies are for MAGA–they don’t care what the rest of us think. I would note that, too, is a hallmark of authoritarianism and anti-democratic values: all that matters is maintaining enough public support to remain in power and to act as one wishes. There is no notion of public service or of a general welfare.
