Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old mother of three, living in Minneapolis with her wife, Becca Good. She was a poet and musician, whose “love and presence touched everyone who knew her,” wrote Good’s family. She was also a United States citizen.

On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Good was shot and killed inside her car by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in a snowy neighborhood street after dropping her 6-year-old son off at school that morning. His stuffed animals and toys overflowed his mom’s glove compartment, while their dog sat in the backseat. Good had motioned for several unmarked government vehicles to drive past her maroon Honda Pilot, which had partially blocked traffic. After attempting to drive away, three shots were fired into the car, mortally wounding Good. 

She was killed just a couple of blocks away from where she lived, and a few miles from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020 by a city police officer. 

The ICE agent who shot Good is Jonathan Ross, an ICE officer of ten years and an Iraq War veteran, who had previously been injured by a car during an immigration affair months earlier. According to federal officials, Ross acted only in self-defense. 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Good “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted to hit an ICE agent “in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism.” She also alleges that Good was “impeding law enforcement operations” and had been doing so the whole day. 

Ross “fired defensive shots,” says Noem. U.S. Vice President JD Vance also commented on social media that the decision was an act of self-defence. 

However, several local officials and the mayor of Minneapolis “have insisted the woman posed no danger,” says the BBC. 

Since the confrontation, several videos have been posted and published showing the moments before and after Good was killed. One shows footage filmed by Ross. “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” says Good in the video. Ross walks around her car, filming the outside of the SUV and its license plates. Then, he walks in front of her vehicle as it reverses. 

After turning her wheel to the right, Good pulls forward, and the camera falls to face the sky. Shots are heard and the car is seen crashing into the sidewalk as the ICE agent swears at Good. Ross appears to stay on his feet and walks towards the SUV, as seen in other videos released by citizens who filmed the confrontation. 

Government officials claim Ross was injured and treated in the hospital, but it’s unclear the extent of his afflictions. According to Noem, he was released the same day of the shooting. 

“I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either,” said US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times (NYT) on Jan. 7. He then told the reporters that Good was at fault because she had tried to “run over” the ICE agent.

“Mr. Trump stuck to his position even as we pointed out the inconsistencies in his account and the lack of clarity in videos circulating on social media,” wrote the NYT. “We asked if, in his mind, firing into a vehicle like that was acceptable. ‘She behaved horribly,’ Mr. Trump said [in response]. ‘And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.’” 

Trump asked for footage of the confrontation “in an effort to prove his point,” according to the NYT. In a three-angle analysis of footage captured, it did not appear that an officer had been hit. 

“It’s a terrible scene,” he told the NYT after seeing the videos of the confrontation. “I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”

However, later that week, on the evening of Jan. 11, Trump justified the fatal result, arguing that Good behaved poorly and calling her a “professional agitator.”

“At a very minimum, that woman was very, very disrespectful to law enforcement,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Vance has declared that Ross has “absolute immunity.”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has continued to defend the officer. “This administration will continue to stand wholeheartedly by the brave men and women of ICE, including that officer in Minneapolis who was absolutely justified in using self-defense against a lunatic who is part of a group, an organized group, to interject and to impede on law enforcement operations,” Leavitt told the NYT.

Contrary to the presidential administration, Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, has condemned the actions of the ICE officer. In a speech on Jan. 7, Frey spoke to the public and also directly to ICE. “To ICE: get the fuck out of Minneapolis. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. Somebody is dead. That’s on you. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”

Frey then gave condolences to Good’s family and promised justice as quickly as possible while emphasizing empathy and love.

“This is a moment where all of us in Minneapolis and beyond, we can rise to the occasion,” Frey said. “We can show them who we are. We can show them the kind of courage, bravery, love and compassion that makes Minneapolis and that makes America.” 

Currently, Good’s family is pursuing a private investigation of the killing with the help of representative lawyers. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also conducting the official federal investigation. 

Good’s family has spoken out on several occasions, often highlighting the type of person she was.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She was extremely compassionate,” Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “She’s taken care of people all her life … She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.”

Good had an extended family living in Oregon, who released a statement on Jan. 12. They let the public know they were grieving, “a family forever changed,” and encouraged the country to think of her children. “We share the desire for justice and accountability, and we ask that all conversations be rooted in humanity, empathy, and care for the family most affected,” they wrote. 

In the U.S., anti-ICE protests, marches and vigils have been held in response to the tragedy. In Portland, citizens flooded the streets the weekend following Good’s death during only a few of the thousands of events planned across the country. 

One group surrounded the Legacy Emanuel Hospital in North Portland on Sat. Jan. 11, rallying against the hospital’s cooperation with ICE. According to OPB, the Oregon Nurses Association claimed that Legacy Emanuel was allowing ICE to dictate patient care; however, Legacy has denied this argument. The protesters demanded detainee rights. 

“Ordinarily, you’d think you could go into a hospital and be safe. Because of what ICE is doing, I don’t know if I’m safe anywhere,” Brian Brandt, a Portland resident who attended the rally, told OPB. 

Other demonstrators marched at Waterfront Park in downtown Portland and several groups hosted vigils throughout the weekend. On the afternoon of Jan. 10, many protesters gathered outside Portland’s ICE facility. 

As of now, at least seven people have been arrested in accordance with Portland’s protests. Their charges range from assaulting a police officer and disorderly conduct to riot charges, according to KOIN. 

In solidarity with their community, many Portland high school students have scheduled walkouts to protest against ICE. Portland Public Schools students have planned a walkout on Jan. 20.