Just like everyone else, I watched the videos of ICE killing Renee Nicole Good in her car last Wednesday. It was sickening.
Renee was just 37 years old (only one year older than me), a poet, and a mother of three. She and her wife, Becca, had recently moved to Minneapolis with their six-year-old son, who they would often drive to school together.
Renee should still be alive today.
Because multiple bystanders were exercising their First Amendment rights by filming ICE’s actions on their cell phones, we all saw her brutal murder with our own eyes — which makes the Trump administration’s immediate and ongoing attempts to gaslight the public and cruelly twist the truth even more outrageous.
We know what we saw and what we heard. This was murder.
When I watched the footage captured by the ICE agent’s cell phone (shared by the White House itself) and heard the words “f***ing b***h” uttered immediately after the fatal gunshots rang out, my blood ran ice cold. Like many women, I recognized that tone immediately.
We demand accountability and justice NOW — and it should go without saying, but in our current dystopian reality, it doesn’t, so let me be extremely clear: “Absolute immunity” for ICE is bullshit.
Over the past year, we’ve seen countless videos of ICE’s unnecessary violence in communities across this country, including San Diego. The horrifying reality is that what happened to Renee in Minneapolis could’ve happened anywhere, to anyone.
It’s easy to feel powerless in these moments, particularly as the administration does everything it can to lie, obscure, and distort reality. But we can’t stay quiet and we can’t back down — we won’t.
Here are several important things we can all do right now to resist ICE’s abuses of power: -
Know your rights, for immigrants: the ACLU has resources in both English and Spanish for encountering ICE and being detained or arrested.
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Know your rights, for allies: You have a First Amendment right to film or photograph law enforcement activities in a public space, so long as you’re not interfering or obstructing. If you feel safe to do so, record the activity with your phone and/or write down any relevant information about what you witness. It’s helpful to write down the names and phone numbers of any witnesses and badge numbers of any law enforcement agents.
- If an ICE officer, member of the National Guard, or other law enforcement officer tells you to stop filming, depending on your comfort level interacting with law enforcement, you may want to comply with orders, or assert your constitutional rights but continue to film from a further distance.
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Join a group that’s doing work on the ground: Indivisible has thousands of groups around the country who are joining together to protest, resist, and support those affected by ICE and CBP’s actions.
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Sign my petition demanding that Kristi Noem resign or be impeached: Secretary Noem bears the ultimate responsibility for the brutal and unacceptable violence coming from ICE. She must be held accountable and cannot be allowed to continue abusing her power.
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Talk to your friends and family about all of this: Your voice is especially powerful among your own network — more than you may realize! Start conversations, share accurate information, and do what you can to share your own concern with those around you.
And of course, as Democrats in Congress take action on a legislative level, I will be asking for your help to ramp up public pressure on our Republican colleagues.
Thank you for reading and for being a part of this team. We’re living through incredibly challenging times, and staying in community is one of the most important ways for us to get through this.
I’ll keep you updated on our work in the House and in San Diego, and I’d love to hear from you about how you’re navigating all this in your own community.
—Sara
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