​The world watches Minneapolis after Renee Good shooting

By Bryce Haugen

Additional reporting by Alicia Underlee Nelson

Five and a half years later and one mile away from George Floyd’s murder, Minneapolis is once again at the epicenter of a law enforcement-related death that has reverberated around the world. On the morning of Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good,, an American citizen and award-winning poet who recently moved to the Twin Cities from Kansas City with her six year old son, was shot three times in the face by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent as she — according to video evidence — turned her wheels away from the officers on Portland Avenue and 34th Street in Minneapolis.

The spin from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was nearly immediate. Within hours, Noem blamed the 37-year-old woman for her own death, saying she used her vehicle as a weapon and falsely claiming the ICE agent was injured and treated at a hospital.

Vice President JD Vance doubled down at a press briefing on Jan. 8, calling Good’s death “a tragedy of her own making” and that she was a “deranged leftist” and “domestic terrorist.” That morning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation kicked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension off the case, but Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is independently gathering evidence for a possible state prosecution of the agent, Jonathan Ross.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the administration’s account was “bullsh*t” and told ICE to “get the f*ck out of Minneapolis.” On X over the weekend, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz posted: “The hearts and minds of the people are on our side. We will do everything we can to seek justice. We will fight with peaceful expression, in court, through public debate and at the ballot box. Keep the peace and keep the faith.”

Joel Powell, a Minnesota State University Moorhead criminal justice professor, said although he’s not an expert on use of force, “as more evidence is made available to the public, it becomes more apparent that the shooting was not necessary and was contrary to accepted police practice.”

“In the toxic atmosphere created by the deployment of ICE and Border Patrol to American cities, we need calm, dispassionate reporting from competent journalists like you,” Powell continued, noting he’s not qualified to fully analyze the crucial evidence in this case. “We must see careful investigation from the state of Minnesota. We need these things to counter the speculations and assertions emanating from partisan camps.”

Concerned citizens in Minneapolis and throughout the country wasted no time taking peacefully to the streets to object to what they call a state-sanctioned murder. About 600 people gathered on the Veterans Memorial Bridge between Fargo and Moorhead on Saturday, Jan. 10. People chanted and held signs reading “Due Process for All” and “Abolish ICE,” among dozens of other messages.

It was a part of a National Day of Action organized by the Democratic Socialists of America in which hundreds of thousands of people rallied at more than one thousand events throughout the country. Local DSA organizer Colby Montigue said it was awesome how many people were willing to show up in less than ideal weather to have their voices heard.

“I mean it really shows how pissed people are,” he said. “Everything about this is just wrong. It’s un-American. It’s inhumane. The lack of compassion is just astounding.”

Tenessa Gemelke is a resident of Minneapolis, where thousands marched on Jan. 10. Gemelke offered a personal perspective on Facebook.

“ICE is terrorizing my community — not just ‘somewhere’ in Minnesota, but within three blocks of my house,” she wrote. “They are stalking families at school drop-off and pickup. They are camped outside small businesses. They are not serving judicial paperwork — they are yanking people randomly off the street because they look like they might be immigrants — not because they are doing anything illegal…We need every single person in this country to speak up and show up however you can, regardless of who you voted for. If you care about me, if you believe me, please do not sit silently by and watch while this happens. Do not get overwhelmed by despair. Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.”

Of course, for every Gemelke, there were scores of keyboard warriors who defended ICE’s actions, despite the video evidence. Their comments are prevalent on Facebook.

“She would be alive if she didn’t try to drive at the ICE agent,” Trevor Humoth said of Good in a Facebook post.

“This woman taunted law enforcement, then tried to run one down with a 2,000-pound weapon,” Dean North wrote. “She’s not a martyr, she’s a criminal. But as we have seen, the left-wing idiots in this country don’t care about the rule of law. If they cared about the rule of law, she would still be alive.”

Loren Shereck wrote that Good will probably have a statue next to George Floyd. “Another loser that gets buried in a gold casket cause she’s entitled,” he wrote.

According to Seth Heath, “Radical leftists are destroying this country.”

On Friday, Jan. 9 — the day before the National Day of Action — Governor Walz called for a Day of Unity to honor Good. In Moorhead, Minn., about 250 people gathered on 8th Street and 24th Avenue South for a rally and vigil. Moorhead resident Loretta Cantieri was one of them.

She was there, she said, “because I am really upset with ICE, but I’m upset with a whole string of institutions that we have— the U.S. Customs and Border (Protection), ICE, Department of Homeland Security. They’ve actually been running rogue for much longer than now, but the Trump administration needs to realize that out of all the law enforcement we have in the country, they have the least amount of accountability. Unfortunately, I do believe he may get away with this.”

Ryan Netterville was at the protest to honor Good, but also on behalf of his late brother Shane Netterville, who was shot in similar circumstances by Fargo Police officer Adam O'Brien in 2022. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley determined the officer acted appropriately, while the family sought an independent investigation.

“That lady shouldn’t have been shot, and she was killed the same way as my brother, shot through the windshield — and that’s ridiculous,” Ryan Netterville said. “And look what happened. You shouldn’t be shooting into moving cars.”

The protests of Good’s shooting death show no signs of abating. Amanda Nygard resides in rural Minnesota now, but as a youth she spent a year living two blocks down Portland Avenue from where the incident occurred. She said she planned to go to the Twin Cities to participate in a protest.

“I feel like I’m in shock, not just because of the incident itself but because of what it means for the state of our democracy,” Nygard said. “We’re in a very quick transition into a fascist state, and it’s scary. I hear people cheering this thing on, not like it’s a human life, but like it’s a NASCAR race and it’s so disturbing. And there’s so many parallels to Nazi Germany. A secret police force with no accountability? That’s out of the Fascism 101 playbook.” 

Reach High Plains Reader reporter Bryce Haugen at brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com.