Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, met an unfortunate end in Minneapolis, Minnesota this week. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent gunned her down as she was leaving the house to go work her shift. Unfortunately, this incident happened less than a mile from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. It has sparked national moral outrage and accountability—the likes of which we would have never imagined before now.
The tragic incident occurred as Renee and her partner, Rebecca Good, were helping their neighbors during the ICE raid. Rebecca was there to witness the tragic event, and she wrote this heart-wrenching description after her husband’s death on a GoFundMe campaign created to help fund their family. In her statement, she expressed gratitude for the assistance received, stating that “the kindness of strangers is the most fitting tribute” for Renee.
The GoFundMe campaign’s success was astounding, raising more than $1.5 million from more than 38,500 supporters. Originally planned with a target of $50,000, the campaign blew through that goal, raising over 30 times that amount. Every single one of the thousands of contributors instantly made clear their gratitude and admiration for the Good family. This outpouring is a testament to our community’s unity in response to this devastation.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey strongly condemned the actions of ICE and voiced his disapproval of the federal agency’s presence in the city. He urged ICE to “get the fuck out! Just as clearly, many Minnesota officials and residents were offended to the core that the Trump administration would brand Renee Nicole Good’s behavior as “domestic terrorism.” “Pure sunshine, pure love,” her family said of Zavala, a reminder of the deep hole left by this young woman who knew and made everyone around her happy.
The case has raised new concerns over immigration enforcement practices and their effects on local communities, fueling a debate among advocates and lawmakers alike. In June, an ICE officer was injured when dragged by a vehicle during an arrest operation involving an undocumented immigrant. This backdrop adds nuance and urgency to the current, troubling discussions of federal agents’ roles in local communities. It further punctuates the gravity of the outcomes caused by their deliberate actions.