The New Year has begun, and it was only three days into the new year that the Venezuelan head of state and his wife were kidnapped for the expressed purpose of grabbing Venezuela’s oil. When asked by the New York Times whether there was anything that could stop him from coercing and invading other countries, President Trump replied, “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” When asked about international law, he stated, “I don’t need international law,” adding a little later, “it depends what your definition of international law is.” Later when asked why he was so determined to seize Greenland, he replied, “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success.”
That’s not all that happened this week. There was the freezing of tens of billions of dollars intended for children’s services in six blue states. And there was the shameful U.S. withdrawal from sixty-six U.N bodies and international organizations.
But for most of us, the most deeply disturbing moment this week was Wednesday’s cold-blooded murder of 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good by armed, masked ICE agent Jonathan Ross—a murder seared in our memories like the 1970 Kent State murders and the 2021 murder of George Floyd. We will never be able to unsee the photograph of her bloodied car air bag juxtaposed against the child’s stuffed toy spilling out of her glove compartment.
To make matters worse, the lies and distortions about her murder that swiftly followed from Kristi Noem, President Trump, Vice President Vance, and others made it clear that this murder will never be properly investigated, and that ICE agent Jonathan Ross will magically have “absolute immunity,” just like his president. Rest assured, the government will soon try to present him, like Kyle Rittenhouse, as an American hero.
We grieve along with Renee Nicole Good’s wife and children and the Minnesotans who knew her best. Her murder will not intimidate or deter us for standing up to ICE when it invades our communities. We will continue to alert immigrants when ICE is nearby and video and document their activities. This murder only makes us more determined and resolute to resist the cruelty, brutality and amorality that ICE represents. Government official’s attempts to smear Renee Nicole’s memory will not succeed; they only reveal how their lust for power has eclipsed what little remains of their human hearts.
This week, we will march in the streets and remember her.
Say her name.