She was Good/This is Bad

The Barbarity is the Goal

Last week Renee Good, 37 year old mother from Minneapolis, was killed in her own neighborhood by veteran ICE agent Jonathan Ross while peacefully observing ICE activities in the city. Ross shot Good in the head three times, and the numerous angles of video footage clearly show Ross wasn’t acting in self-defense or fearing for his life. Instead, this appears to be a cold-blooded killing, as Ross’ own footage of the incident shows. The brutality of her killing has shocked the nation, sparking immediate protest, but is part and parcel of the behavior for this expanded ICE agency. In other words, Ren​ee Goode's death wasn't an accident it was the plan.

Renee Good was unfortunately not the first person killed by ICE under the Trump administration, even with the abysmal to non-existent reporting of ICE and DHS activities we know that multiple people have died in ICE custody, and that on December 31st another US citizen, Kieth Porter Jr. was shot and killed by ICE officials. These killings also follow in the wake of a panoply of violent, repressive actions by this modern day Gestapo, clearly laid out by judge Ellis, who said the "use of force shocks the conscience" . The report shows an alleged pattern of ICE antagonizing community members and attempting to provoke confrontation and escalate towards violent interaction. Again, Renee Good’s death wasn’t an accident, it was the plan of this Administration.

Perhaps not Good specifically, but we can see from the Administration’s choice to back Ross’ action entirely, vilify the victim, and refuse to investigate the shooting, that ICE is acting Exactly as the administration wants it to.  When you see Kristi Noem, to JD Vance, to Donald Trump lie and dispute basic material facts despite the plethora of video evidence, continue to lie in the face of pushback, and then attempt to justify the violence of ICE’s actions, it sends the message that violence and the terror, not any type of law enforcement, are the point. If you had any doubt left, simply listen to another ICE agent’s own words from Sunday, when he was recorded threatening a Minneapolis resident and asking, “didn't you learn the lesson?” It’s clear what message ICE heard.

This incredibly well-funded “immigration police” force offers only 47 days of training before sending its members out into communities to operate with an explicit tolerance for lawlessness and impunity for wrongdoing.

Unsurprisingly in such an environment, the wrongdoings by ICE are mounting, everything from door-to-door raids disappearing peaceful undocumented immigrants, along with immigrants and citizens, to wide-spread violence, to allegations of sexual assault, to the public killings. Unfortunately, this is likely just the beginning, with its expanded budget, and “absolute immunity” to agents in the field, ICE has both the equipment and the budget to wage a massive domestic war against America’s cities.

The barbarity we saw this past weekend, that we continue to see wherever ICE is deployed, is the point. Trump, and Stephen Miller, etc. want to instill fear in Americans, and with that fear, control us. They want us to believe there will never be accountability for their actions, that resistance is futile, but this is a lie! They know it too from the way ICE agents hide their faces. In the back of their minds they know there might come day of accountability, and they don’t want to be identified.

We must work for and demand that accountability, from our officials, both elected and running from the different economic sectors, and in growing solidarity as consumers each each Tuesday. It’s only when we combine the economic and the political that we can break the back of this White Nationalist movement attempting to rewrite the Constitutional order, the relationship of citizen to government, and what it means to be an American itself.

We must be under no illusions, there are some within the Trump group who look at these videos and see people who they think deserved to die. To this MAGA minority all dissent is illegitimate and worth responding to with force. On the other hand majority of us are horrified and disgusted by what Trump and ICE are doing, with a growing number finally understanding why abolishing ICE is a necessary step along the path to justice.

The dark transformation that the Trump Administration is trying to undertake can only succeed if they manage to intimidate the rest of us into not stepping up and not taking action. So, be careful, but get out in the streets! Help observe from a safe distance, film everything, and join in growing solidarity every Tuesday economically as we build a movement of unity that is greater than the authoritarians might. Don't shop on Tuesday

#DSOT #UPM