Hundreds protest in Philadelphia against Minneapolis ICE shooting
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, on Wednesday.
Several hundred people gathered Thursday evening in Center City to protest the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three whom a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis shot and killed on Wednesday.
Good, who had recently moved to Minnesota, died a few blocks from where she lived, and about a mile from where police killed George Floyd in 2020.
Protesters near City Hall held candles and signs saying, “We saw the video. Stop the cover up!” and “ICE raids violate Philly values.”
“We arrive at tonight’s vigil with deep anger and grief for the murder of Renee Good at the hands of the state,” Erika Guadalupe Núñez, Juntos executive director, told the crowd. “ICE equals death; it’s the death of family, of connection, of love.”
Núñez said the actions in Minneapolis reflect a reality Philadelphia has experienced with the mistreatment of legal aid organizations and immigrant associations at the hands of immigration agents.
“Let us be honest, if ICE was willing to shoot an ally, a white woman, in the face for documenting abuse. It is our duty to expose and condemn what they have done and will continue to do to Black and brown people behind closed doors and out of the sight of cameras,” Núñez said.
Video taken by bystanders in Minneapolis posted to social media shows an officer approaching Good’s car from the driver’s side, grabbing the door handle and reaching inside the vehicle. When the Honda Pilot begins to move, a different ICE officer who had positioned himself in front of the SUV immediately fires into the vehicle at close range.
The Department of Homeland Security said the officer fired in self-defense as Good allegedly tried to run down officers with her vehicle. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said video of the incident showed the shooting was reckless and unnecessary.
The fatal shooting of Good was at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown President Donald Trump’s administration launched last year.
The federal agency has been escalating immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota by deploying an anticipated 2,000 agents and officers.
An ex-husband of Good’s, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, told the Associated Press that 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, Mo.
At the Center City protest, Julie Stewart, 71, said a wave of shock took over her body after learning an ICE agent had killed a woman she didn’t know, in a different state, and the pain felt close to home.
The feeling brought her to the vigil holding a sign reading: “ICE murdered Renee Nicole Good.”
“They are twisting the story; it’s a lie. ICE needs to be shut down, held accountable, and all of their people need to be unmasked,” Stewart said.
Aniqa Raihan told the crowd the names of the people who have died in connection with ICE need to be remembered.
Raihan, a No ICE Philly volunteer, named more than 30 victims, Good being the latest.
“We are here to remember these beloved community members, whether we know their names or not. We are here to mourn, to grieve, to lean on one another, and to know that we are not alone in the anger and pain we are feeling,” Raihan said.
Addressing elected officials present in the crowd, she said: “We can’t wait. If you don’t act, Renee Good will not be the last person murdered with impunity. If you don’t act, it will happen here. If you don’t act, ICE will continue to kidnap and disappear members of our community every day.”
While the protest was underway, several men identifying themselves as members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and armed with rifles walked down Broad Street toward City Hall and stopped at John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
They said they came to protect the protesters.
“I’m here because it’s my duty,” said a man identifying himself as Paul Birdsong, 39, while holding his firearm tightly.
Birdsong said the group’s members were legally carrying their firearms and they viewed themselves as “guards of the revolution.”
“To ICE, we will respond with whatever force is use on the people,” Birdsong said.
Police closely monitored the Black Panther members and reported no problems.