Thank you for your thoughts. Ever since the murder of Good, I have felt sick to my stomach, trying to grasp the fact that I share the country with people who think shooting an unarmed woman in the face three times and then shouting an expletive at her is acceptable, even cheered. Really? How low can people go to call this out as a win, and then they conveniently refuse a shared investigation with the state and city where she was killed. No words. The situation is horrifying.
On another note, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein (he's here on Substack) has received leaked documents that reveal that ICE is having a harder time recruiting agents and volunteers to come to Minneapolis after the shooting, so even people in their ranks are resisting this brutal and unwarranted incursion.
Thank you Terry you helped me with my overwhelming thoughts and put them in some sort of order. We are all struggling with the entire situation. Just like so many others we are so sad but incredibly scared that another horrible situation will present itself and tear our fragile city apart even further. I am praying like never before for everyone. Stay safe and keep trying for some form of piece in our city🙏
I am currently out of town, and so I am observing from a distance. I am shocked that this incident is a political Rorschach Test. Some see Renee Good as a righteous protester who was brutally murdered by a federal agent using unnecessary force, and others see Renee Good as a domestic terrorist who got what she deserved for weaponizing her vehicle. I have heard this polarization from elected officials and from regular people I know. The polarization is shocking.
Another shocker is that there are over 2000 federal agents in the Twin Cities metro. That is more than the combined number of police officers and deputies in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hennepin County, and Ramsey County.
Once again, you offer a balanced and insightful analysis. Without doubt, we are being played by media spin at all levels. Our elected officials use inflammatory words, and clearly rushed to judgement on both sides. I am thankful the crowds have not caused serious damage as yet, but I do know it doesn't take much to turn a peaceful crowd into an angry mob. I worry about the economic impact on downtown.....how many conventions might be lost because who wants to go to such as unsettled city, and lost revenue because business have safety concerns? I believe in law and order, and sanctuary policies prevent much needed cooperation between our police and federal enforcement. We need an off ramp that returns us to normal, and elected officials that have thoughtful conversations about peaceful solutions. We desperately need immigration reform that manages the border and provides for legitimate residency of undocumented immigrants who do not have a criminal record and pay taxes.
I've been at the protests and joking (dark humor for dark times, as a friend said) that at this point I'm probably one of the least left wing people there. But I'm there, in coalition with people who have many opinions I think are bonkers, because this shooting seems so heinous.
Sorry, and this is coming from a law and order person, a retired probation officer, who lists quite supportive of law enforcement and those working in public safety. I 100 % do not trust the federal government, this current governing entity that we now have, as commandeered by the Trump Admin. I could never, EVER, have thought that I would feel this way, EVER.
But, before we go any further, we could just start here.... ( ie, boys and girls, who are all of OUR public employees...maybe start your employment by reading your manuals...because that is how your employment SHOULD be evaluated in terms of fitness for the job, starting with your ability to read and absorb information. )
"Border agent handbook says agents should avoid standing in front of vehicles
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) use of force policy states that unless it is operationally required, agents should “avoid standing directly in front of or behind a subject vehicle” and “should not place themselves in the path of a moving vehicle or use their body to block a vehicle’s path,” according to the most recently available CBP Use of Force Policy Handbook, published in 2021.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross would have been operating under CBP policy when he shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.
A 2013 report from the Police Executive Research Forum looked at 15 cases in which Border Patrol agents fired at or into vehicles and found agents would “intentionally put themselves into the exit path of the vehicle, thereby exposing themselves to additional risk and creating justification for the use of deadly force.”
“The cases suggest that some of the shots at suspect vehicles are taken out of frustration when agents who are on foot have no other way of detaining suspects who are fleeing in a vehicle,” the report continues. “Most reviewed cases involved non-violent suspects who posed no threat other than a moving vehicle."
"There is little doubt that the safest course for an agent faced with an oncoming vehicle is to get out of the way of the vehicle.”
AND, I am also a supporter of Immigration Enforcement when justly, and EVENLY applied, as carried out with concern and respect, and with the highest level of skill that THAT job requires.
I can't imagine the friends and family of Renee Good having to risk seeing her death over and over again for years to come. There is something not quite right in our desire to be open and all free speach but it seems to lack decency and dignity. I think we need to come up with a new way of accessing information without it being thrown at us, especially when it is the horrific loss of someone's loved one.
It was disappointing to see our local officials ouf there so quickly vilifying the ICE officer. I thought it belittled all of them because how can they in turn accuse everyone else of doing the same thing. They should be trying to calm the situation since they are paid to care for our city and state.
These are unprecedented times in Minneapolis and Minnesota; they call for unprecedented responses. The Governor's call for National Guardsmen and women seems entirely reasonable given the fact we have masked thugs carrying lethal weapons killing white US citizens. Shouldn't Noem, at a minimum, require these ICE guys to ask for ID first, then shoot later? Murdering a woman and calling her a f*ing bitch while recording the events on his own cell phone welcome questioning of why these guys are here in the first place. What we do know is that Ms. Good was not a domestic terrorist; she had just dropped off her 6-year-old at school and found herself in the midst of an ICE gathering. She was following an ICE SUV away from the congestion -- the ICE SUV wasn't fired at; hers was. With or without the State BCA, this crime will be prosecuted.
Terry, this is utter drivel, and you know it. I don't even know where to start on this, and this is my third try. I am pounding the keyboard so hard I think I invented two new ways to unintentionally erase my earlier writing.
So I'll just cut to the bottom line: The US has immigration laws. One can like or dislike them. But they are on the books. We had an election in 2024 and the guy who wants to enforce them won. HE GETS TO ENFORCE THEM. PERIOD. THAT is the way it works in a democratic republic.
The "sanctuary" idea - that a smaller jurisdiction can decide on its own that it will not only refuse to help in the enforcement of Federal Law, but will encourage and allow individuals to INTERFERE in Federal enforcement activities, is not only wrong-headed, but inherently unstable and dangerous. And it is a revival, under a deceptive new name, of the doctrine of "State's Rights" that led DIRECTLY to the Civil War.
All this week's events amounted to, was the "chickens coming home to roost", from really, REALLY bad thinking and local policy. Ms. Good is not dead because a Federal Agent shot her. She is dead because WE, the people of Minnesota and Minneapolis, insisted on following a path that made it absolutely, positively INEVITABLE that SOMEONE would end up dead as a result of this "idea", which had been mercifully extinct since 1865, in spite of many previous efforts by others to revive it - MOST of which we Liberals/Progressives OPPOSED on principle.
We all need to WAKE THE HELL UP and realize that if one has been unsuccessful in CHANGING laws one dislikes, one does NOT get to simply ignore them, or refuse to enforce them on a smaller-government-level, and one does not get to encourage folks to interfere with their enforcement. One has to try harder to change them, and try harder to prevent the election of people who disagree with us. And if we fail at either or both things, we need to be close enough to being grown-ups that we accept the will of the majority, and try even harder. We are not so Goddamn "special" that we get to ignore law we have been unsuccessful in changing.
Anything else is madness, and will result in well-meaning but gullible individuals ending up unnecessarily dead.
I pray that we will STOP NOW before more are hurt or killed.
May Ms. Good rest in peace. We should be ashamed to have set her up for this - and THAT is what we did.
Thank you for sticking with it despite your frustration and for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate you engaging seriously with the newsletter, even when you disagree.
I understand your premise that durable change requires organizing and electing people we want to represent us. The winner gets to enact their agenda. Where I think we may be talking past each other is in what you’re inferring from my piece.
First, I intended to keep Renee Good’s killing in the foreground. Before assigning blame or parsing political responsibility, I wanted to acknowledge the loss itself and its consequences. Even if someone believes her presence on Portland that day stemmed from misinformation or misguided ideas, that does not absolve the federal government, or the agent involved, of responsibility for her death.
Second, while Trump was elected, that does not mean voters endorsed illegal actions carried out in his name. Many of the current detentions disregard due process, and searches are reportedly being conducted without proper warrants. From my perspective, what we are seeing is less about lawful enforcement and more about intimidation, particularly directed at people in blue states who opposed him or disagreed with him in the last election.
I’m happy to continue this conversation once ICE has left the city. At the moment, I’m feeling overwhelmed by the volume of conflicting information circulating during what appears to be an escalating situation, and I want to be careful and clear in how I engage.
Thank you for your thoughts. Ever since the murder of Good, I have felt sick to my stomach, trying to grasp the fact that I share the country with people who think shooting an unarmed woman in the face three times and then shouting an expletive at her is acceptable, even cheered. Really? How low can people go to call this out as a win, and then they conveniently refuse a shared investigation with the state and city where she was killed. No words. The situation is horrifying.
On another note, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein (he's here on Substack) has received leaked documents that reveal that ICE is having a harder time recruiting agents and volunteers to come to Minneapolis after the shooting, so even people in their ranks are resisting this brutal and unwarranted incursion.
Here with you as well, I'm in the Southside. I've been blogging through this here on Substack. Thanks for writing.
Thank you so much for this reasoned and compassionate piece.
Thank you Terry you helped me with my overwhelming thoughts and put them in some sort of order. We are all struggling with the entire situation. Just like so many others we are so sad but incredibly scared that another horrible situation will present itself and tear our fragile city apart even further. I am praying like never before for everyone. Stay safe and keep trying for some form of piece in our city🙏
Nice piece Terry
I am currently out of town, and so I am observing from a distance. I am shocked that this incident is a political Rorschach Test. Some see Renee Good as a righteous protester who was brutally murdered by a federal agent using unnecessary force, and others see Renee Good as a domestic terrorist who got what she deserved for weaponizing her vehicle. I have heard this polarization from elected officials and from regular people I know. The polarization is shocking.
Another shocker is that there are over 2000 federal agents in the Twin Cities metro. That is more than the combined number of police officers and deputies in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hennepin County, and Ramsey County.
Thanks for your thoughtful commentary.
Once again, you offer a balanced and insightful analysis. Without doubt, we are being played by media spin at all levels. Our elected officials use inflammatory words, and clearly rushed to judgement on both sides. I am thankful the crowds have not caused serious damage as yet, but I do know it doesn't take much to turn a peaceful crowd into an angry mob. I worry about the economic impact on downtown.....how many conventions might be lost because who wants to go to such as unsettled city, and lost revenue because business have safety concerns? I believe in law and order, and sanctuary policies prevent much needed cooperation between our police and federal enforcement. We need an off ramp that returns us to normal, and elected officials that have thoughtful conversations about peaceful solutions. We desperately need immigration reform that manages the border and provides for legitimate residency of undocumented immigrants who do not have a criminal record and pay taxes.
I've been at the protests and joking (dark humor for dark times, as a friend said) that at this point I'm probably one of the least left wing people there. But I'm there, in coalition with people who have many opinions I think are bonkers, because this shooting seems so heinous.
Sorry, and this is coming from a law and order person, a retired probation officer, who lists quite supportive of law enforcement and those working in public safety. I 100 % do not trust the federal government, this current governing entity that we now have, as commandeered by the Trump Admin. I could never, EVER, have thought that I would feel this way, EVER.
But, before we go any further, we could just start here.... ( ie, boys and girls, who are all of OUR public employees...maybe start your employment by reading your manuals...because that is how your employment SHOULD be evaluated in terms of fitness for the job, starting with your ability to read and absorb information. )
"Border agent handbook says agents should avoid standing in front of vehicles
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) use of force policy states that unless it is operationally required, agents should “avoid standing directly in front of or behind a subject vehicle” and “should not place themselves in the path of a moving vehicle or use their body to block a vehicle’s path,” according to the most recently available CBP Use of Force Policy Handbook, published in 2021.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross would have been operating under CBP policy when he shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.
A 2013 report from the Police Executive Research Forum looked at 15 cases in which Border Patrol agents fired at or into vehicles and found agents would “intentionally put themselves into the exit path of the vehicle, thereby exposing themselves to additional risk and creating justification for the use of deadly force.”
“The cases suggest that some of the shots at suspect vehicles are taken out of frustration when agents who are on foot have no other way of detaining suspects who are fleeing in a vehicle,” the report continues. “Most reviewed cases involved non-violent suspects who posed no threat other than a moving vehicle."
"There is little doubt that the safest course for an agent faced with an oncoming vehicle is to get out of the way of the vehicle.”
AND, I am also a supporter of Immigration Enforcement when justly, and EVENLY applied, as carried out with concern and respect, and with the highest level of skill that THAT job requires.
I can't imagine the friends and family of Renee Good having to risk seeing her death over and over again for years to come. There is something not quite right in our desire to be open and all free speach but it seems to lack decency and dignity. I think we need to come up with a new way of accessing information without it being thrown at us, especially when it is the horrific loss of someone's loved one.
It was disappointing to see our local officials ouf there so quickly vilifying the ICE officer. I thought it belittled all of them because how can they in turn accuse everyone else of doing the same thing. They should be trying to calm the situation since they are paid to care for our city and state.
These are unprecedented times in Minneapolis and Minnesota; they call for unprecedented responses. The Governor's call for National Guardsmen and women seems entirely reasonable given the fact we have masked thugs carrying lethal weapons killing white US citizens. Shouldn't Noem, at a minimum, require these ICE guys to ask for ID first, then shoot later? Murdering a woman and calling her a f*ing bitch while recording the events on his own cell phone welcome questioning of why these guys are here in the first place. What we do know is that Ms. Good was not a domestic terrorist; she had just dropped off her 6-year-old at school and found herself in the midst of an ICE gathering. She was following an ICE SUV away from the congestion -- the ICE SUV wasn't fired at; hers was. With or without the State BCA, this crime will be prosecuted.
Terry, this is utter drivel, and you know it. I don't even know where to start on this, and this is my third try. I am pounding the keyboard so hard I think I invented two new ways to unintentionally erase my earlier writing.
So I'll just cut to the bottom line: The US has immigration laws. One can like or dislike them. But they are on the books. We had an election in 2024 and the guy who wants to enforce them won. HE GETS TO ENFORCE THEM. PERIOD. THAT is the way it works in a democratic republic.
The "sanctuary" idea - that a smaller jurisdiction can decide on its own that it will not only refuse to help in the enforcement of Federal Law, but will encourage and allow individuals to INTERFERE in Federal enforcement activities, is not only wrong-headed, but inherently unstable and dangerous. And it is a revival, under a deceptive new name, of the doctrine of "State's Rights" that led DIRECTLY to the Civil War.
All this week's events amounted to, was the "chickens coming home to roost", from really, REALLY bad thinking and local policy. Ms. Good is not dead because a Federal Agent shot her. She is dead because WE, the people of Minnesota and Minneapolis, insisted on following a path that made it absolutely, positively INEVITABLE that SOMEONE would end up dead as a result of this "idea", which had been mercifully extinct since 1865, in spite of many previous efforts by others to revive it - MOST of which we Liberals/Progressives OPPOSED on principle.
We all need to WAKE THE HELL UP and realize that if one has been unsuccessful in CHANGING laws one dislikes, one does NOT get to simply ignore them, or refuse to enforce them on a smaller-government-level, and one does not get to encourage folks to interfere with their enforcement. One has to try harder to change them, and try harder to prevent the election of people who disagree with us. And if we fail at either or both things, we need to be close enough to being grown-ups that we accept the will of the majority, and try even harder. We are not so Goddamn "special" that we get to ignore law we have been unsuccessful in changing.
Anything else is madness, and will result in well-meaning but gullible individuals ending up unnecessarily dead.
I pray that we will STOP NOW before more are hurt or killed.
May Ms. Good rest in peace. We should be ashamed to have set her up for this - and THAT is what we did.
Jim,
Thank you for sticking with it despite your frustration and for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate you engaging seriously with the newsletter, even when you disagree.
I understand your premise that durable change requires organizing and electing people we want to represent us. The winner gets to enact their agenda. Where I think we may be talking past each other is in what you’re inferring from my piece.
First, I intended to keep Renee Good’s killing in the foreground. Before assigning blame or parsing political responsibility, I wanted to acknowledge the loss itself and its consequences. Even if someone believes her presence on Portland that day stemmed from misinformation or misguided ideas, that does not absolve the federal government, or the agent involved, of responsibility for her death.
Second, while Trump was elected, that does not mean voters endorsed illegal actions carried out in his name. Many of the current detentions disregard due process, and searches are reportedly being conducted without proper warrants. From my perspective, what we are seeing is less about lawful enforcement and more about intimidation, particularly directed at people in blue states who opposed him or disagreed with him in the last election.
I’m happy to continue this conversation once ICE has left the city. At the moment, I’m feeling overwhelmed by the volume of conflicting information circulating during what appears to be an escalating situation, and I want to be careful and clear in how I engage.
Thank you again for writing.
Regards, Terry