Living in the United States of America is not supposed to mean living in fear.
We should be able to drive to school, go to work, and raise our families in neighborhoods without fear, especially from those people sworn to protect us.
Yet, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed on Wednesday in Minneapolis during an encounter with ICE officers. She was attempting to drive away from a group of armed and massed ICE agents when she was shot.
The videos of the shooting are widely available online. They have sparked intense debate, and officials have given very different reports about what happened. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated in a press conference that Good attempted to run an ICE agent over, referring to Good’s actions leading up to the shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputed this account, stating, “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody this is bull****.”
Regardless of the legal questions that are still being investigated, some things cannot be disputed: a child has lost their mother, and a family is grieving someone they loved. At the end of the day, one person will get to go home alive, and a six-year-old child will have to attend their mother’s funeral.
These facts should make what occurred today relevant to all of us, even students who feel disconnected from national debates about immigration. They should serve as a reminder that violence related to law enforcement decisions doesn’t happen “somewhere else.”
Although this occurred in Minneapolis, the significance of the event goes beyond one city. All cities have to operate under federal law enforcement policies, and these policies affect communities everywhere, including Lake Forest. When violence occurs during a supposedly routine action, it forces us to think about how power is used (or misused), who feels safe, and whose lives are at risk even in their own neighborhoods. ICE is a complicated situation because although protecting America is important, its methods for collecting immigrants go too far.
Many of us have family members who are immigrants. But even those who don’t can still understand what it feels like when someone with authority enters a space with force. Events like what occurred in Minneapolis can still affect how safe people feel in their own schools or communities.
It is understandable to want to protect our country. In fact, this is often the reason used to justify force. But a desire to protect should not come at the cost of human life, especially when it is so avoidable.
Today’s shooting is already being framed as a partisan issue, but it does not have to be. Instead, the question it really raises is whether those who are supposed to be protecting us are actually making people feel safer.
Her family described Renee Good as compassionate and deeply caring. She was a person, and she should not be reduced to a talking point.
No one deserves to be killed during an encounter that could have ended differently. People may break the law, but no human being is illegal. If we want to claim that safety and justice matter, then we also must be able to recognize when enforcement is causing harm.
