When an ICE agent shot and killed poet, musician, and mother of three Renee Nicole Good aged 37 on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, widely available evidence suggests that this level of deadly violence was uncalled for. ICE agents are not immune to prosecution for illegal actions. The evidence we have seen is strong, and it demands immediate action.
The agent who shot Renee had options. He was not in the path of her vehicle, the wheels of which were turned away from him, and which was moving very slowly. Agents were shouting at her conflicting commands: to stop, to go, to get out (of here, or out of the car?) when the third agent abruptly pulled out his gun and fired at least three shots in her face at point blank range. The officer could have stepped back – which he did, enough to fire the second and third shots into the driver’s side window at a 90 degree angle as the car slowly passed by. He could have shot out the tires to slow the car further. He did not need to use his gun at all. But he did, and now a 37 year old woman is dead and her children have lost their mother.
Renee Nicole Good was a mother, partner, and community member in the Twin Cities.Officials and family describe her as a kind, loving person who was not the target of any law‑enforcement investigation. She was a U.S. citizen born in Colorado and appears to never have been charged with anything involving law enforcement beyond a traffic ticket.
In social media accounts, Macklin Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” She said she was currently “experiencing Minneapolis,” displaying a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account. A profile picture posted to Pinterest shows her smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.
Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Macklin Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered a group of ICE agents on a snowy street in Minneapolis, where they had moved last year from Kansas City.
Video taken by bystanders posted to social media shows an officer approaching her car, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. When she begins to pull forward, a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range.
In another video taken after the shooting, a distraught woman is seen sitting near the vehicle, wailing, “That’s my wife, I don’t know what to do!” Calls and messages to Macklin Good’s current partner received no response.
Trump administration officials painted Macklin Good as a domestic terrorist who had attempted to ram federal agents with her car. President Trump compounded the false narrative, claiming Good had “violently, willfully, and viciously” run over the officer. That claim was false on its face. The officer remained standing throughout the encounter, and video clearly shows space between his outstretched gun and the car window at the moments he fired.
Her ex-husband said she was no activist and that he had never known her to participate in a protest of any kind. He described her as a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger. She loved to sing, participating in a chorus in high school and studying vocal performance in college.
She studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia and won a prize in 2020 for one of her works, according to a post on the school’s English department Facebook page. She also hosted a podcast with her second husband, who died in 2023.
Macklin Good had a daughter and her son from her first marriage, who are now ages 15 and 12. Her 6-year-old son was from her second marriage. Her ex-husband said she had primarily been a stay-at-home mom in recent years but had previously worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union. Donna Ganger, her mother, said the family was notified of the death late Wednesday morning. Her mother, called her “one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” describing her as loving, forgiving, and affectionate. Renee’s story deserves to be heard.
Marvel Cinematic Universe star Simu Liu posted her shock and outrage on X: “beyond appalled at the murderous actions of ICE agents in minneapolis. dont be manipulated by rhetoric; there is a video, and it clearly shows the murder of an unarmed woman driving away. AWAY. immigration laws can be enforced in a dignified way. fuck ICE forever.”
The video evidence does not support the need for lethal violence. But restraint requires training, and it requires intent. It requires seeing policing as essentially being about the protection of human beings, not the subjugation of animals. But trained in a partisan ideology that defines fellow citizens with differing views as “vermin,” ICE agents across the country are getting the message that they will be rewarded for using maximum violence.
Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon expresses her view clearly: "Arrest that ICE agent and charge him with murder!!!"
As does Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria: "This is murder!... Arrest the shooter."
The ICE agents’ criminal behavior went beyond the shooting itself. Immediately afterward, video shows ICE agents blocking a bystander who identified himself as a doctor from providing emergency aid as she lay dying. For more than 30 seconds, the agents prevented any medical assistance from being rendered, raising additional, serious questions about their conduct.
Poor Things actor Mark Ruffalo: “The beige brigades now roaming the streets like packs of coyotes… hide their faces for shame or fear of justice and stamp their boots… It will come back on you as well one day. You are pointing your guns in the wrong direction.”
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, only a few blocks away from this scene, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison successfully prosecuted the officers who kneeled on Floyd’s neck as he told them he couldn’t breathe. Now, Ellison has announced an investigation into Renee’s killing as well – even as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem insists only Trump’s FBI will investigate.
In homicide cases every day, suspects are arrested based on probable cause, the legal standard for arrest, which exists when facts and circumstances would lead a "reasonable person" to believe a crime has been committed, and that the suspect committed it. However much they may share his hubris, ICE agents do not share in Trump’s immunity.
Singer and actress Reneé Rapp doesn’t mince her words: “Fuck ICE fuck this administration fuck all of yall who are complicit in ensuring that this happened this is a fucking disgrace.”
What Americans saw happen in Minneapolis is stunning. An ICE agent killed an unarmed 37-year-old US citizen , Renee Nicole Good , for no reason. Then, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem told us not to believe our own eyes.
Her death has fueled protests nationwide and drawn criticism from civil rights groups and elected officials. A candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good outside the Abraham Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford drew hundreds Thursday night calling for accountability and changes to federal immigration enforcement .The gathering was briefly disrupted by a confrontation behind the courthouse in which several protesters were pepper sprayed.
In Hartford, advocates, clergy, labor leaders and community members said Good’s death reflected what they described as a broader pattern of aggressive federal immigration enforcement.
“Her citizenship status does not tie to her life’s value, but serves as a symbol that no one is safe,” said Lynn, who was identified by her first name only and is an organizer with Hartford Deportation Defense. “This is an immediate and urgent call to action.” Lynn said that since January 2025 there have been more than 30 deaths in ICE custody nationwide, including multiple shootings by immigration agents. “There is no choice but to organize, educate and learn how to protect each other,” she said. About 30 minutes into the vigil, organizers reported a disturbance behind the courthouse along South Prospect Street. Witnesses said vehicles leaving the building’s parking garage moved into a group gathered near the rear of the courthouse.
According to accounts from those behind the courthouse, a gray sedan passed through the area, followed by a white van with New Hampshire license plates. A protester threw an object at the van, breaking a rear window, after which the vehicle stopped, and briefly reversed before continuing north on Prospect Street.
The incident occurred at the back of the building, while speakers and most attendees remained at the front of the courthouse. Event marshals assigned to the vigil moved to assess the situation and relayed information to organizers, who paused the program briefly and urged the crowd to remain calm.
“That’s not the approach we came here for tonight,” an organizer told the crowd over the public-address system. “We need to be in a place where we can use mass numbers to keep people safe.”
After several minutes, the program resumed. A Hartford police official said the vehicles were driven by agents with either ICE or Federal Protective Services, a law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The official said the person who was knocked down declined medical treatment and that no arrests were made.
As the vigil continued, speakers returned to calls for sustained organizing rather than a one-time protest. Other speakers connected immigration enforcement, surveillance and what they described as broader systems of state violence, while urging coordination and restraint at local actions.
State lawmakers also criticized the killing. In a statement, Senate President Martin Looney, D- New Haven, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, and members of the Senate Democratic caucus condemned the killing and blamed the Trump administration’s immigration policies for escalating violence nationwide. The senators said they would explore ways to hold federal authorities accountable at the state level when the legislative session begins.
In a post on X, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT wrote: “Renee Nicole Good was not obstructing ICE agents — she was not even a protestor. And yet, she is gone because of an excessive use of violence by ICE. Masked, armed ICE agents do not belong in our communities. Kristi Noem must be fired & ICE must leave our cities. The person who committed this crime must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” The Hartford vigil was one of several demonstrations held across Connecticut in response to Good’s killing. Organizers said additional actions are planned and emphasized that Thursday’s gathering was intended as the beginning of longer-term organizing rather than an endpoint.
The vigil was organized by a coalition that included the Connecticut Civil Liberties Defense Committee, the ACLU of Connecticut and Indivisible CT. Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam released a statement late Thursday about both the shooting and the incident involving ICE vehicles at the rally. “What happened at tonight’s vigil in Hartford is the direct result of the lawlessness and recklessness cultivated by the Trump administration over the past year, which culminated in the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis this week,” Arulampalam said. “It is imperative that anyone protesting do so peacefully and safely. We cannot give this administration the chaos it craves. But let no one mistake the cause of tonight’s conflict: federal agents have acted with impunity and a clear intent to antagonize local communities across our country. When you govern by brutality, you incite unrest.”
He said he directed Hartford police to investigate the vehicle strike “as we would any incident where a driver strikes a pedestrian,” adding that his administration would work with police and have more information to share as it becomes available. “Unlike the Trump administration, we believe in laws, facts, and due process,” Arulampalam said.
Renee Good should still be here. She had inherent value and infinite worth. She was murdered by her own government in broad daylight in what is supposed to be the greatest democracy on the planet.
It is time for the Minnesota legal system to intervene. If prosecutorial action is delayed, it can only be seen as a green light for further escalation by ICE agents, who are already heavily militarized in civilian neighborhoods.
We must demand justice for Renee Nicole Good and her family and an end to ICE’s reign of terror. The video evidence confirms this was a cold-blooded murder, and any claim that the ICE killer was acting in self-defense is an outrageous lie.
The ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is the latest in a string of deaths related to ICE raids, traffic stops, and detention facilities. Last year 32 people died in ICE custody―the most in more than two decades. Border Patrol agents have also shot, wounded, and killed civilians during Trump’s mass deportation raids.
The Minneapolis ICE agent responsible for the murder of Renee Nicole Good has been identified as Jonathan Ross. local authorities must press charges against Jonathan Ross immediately! It’s about justice for Renee Nicole Good, and it’s about drawing a line in the sand to prevent the next injustice. No one should live in fear due to the harms of unchecked power of state brutality.
Justice means consequences. Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE and those responsible must be held accountable: investigated, prosecuted and punished under the law. No cover‑ups. No excuses. No immunity for state violence. SAY HER NAME. Renee Nicole Good deserved to live. a family lost a mother, a son without a mom, a daughter without a mom. Justice for Renee!
Signage at a protest in Hartford on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, against ICE for the killing of Renee Nicole Good
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