Inland Empire lawmakers and community groups are condemning ICE after one of its agents shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota earlier this week.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has justified the shooting, claiming Good — a U.S. citizen — tried to strike agents with her vehicle. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis, and other officials. Video recorded by bystanders also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.
Good’s death has resonated locally, particularly in Ontario, where last October a federal agent shot a 24-year-old U.S. citizen near a school bus stop at Vineyard Avenue and Riverside Drive.
On Thursday, community groups and members of the public held a vigil to honor Good and others who have been killed by ICE or who died while in federal custody. Many in attendance expressed sadness, anger, and frustration over the legal observer’s death. Some called on local city, state, and federal lawmakers to do more to hold the agency accountable.
Andrea Galvan is an Ontario resident and a volunteer with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. Over the past two months, Galvan and other volunteers have posted signs across Ontario and other Inland Empire cities marking locations where people have been arrested by federal immigration agents, in an effort to raise awareness.
Galvan said the vigil was meant to support rapid response network volunteers, people who show up at immigration raids to document enforcement activity and help families of those detained.
“They’re carrying so much right now,” Galvan said. “I think they’re at their limit. But volunteers needed to be together at this moment, and we opened it up to the community as well, because we’re all really shocked by this and really hurting.”
Marta, a rapid response volunteer who only provided KVCR with her first name out of concern for her safety, said she attended the vigil to pay her respects to Good. Marta said she decided to become a volunteer after witnessing gardeners get arrested by ICE near her condo last June.
“This woman was a mother and a rapid responder too…a mother of three,” she said. “I’m with her. I’m not a mother, but I feel for her, and I feel that she gave herself to this cause by being there.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Reps. Raul Ruiz and Mark Takano both expressed outrage over Good’s death. Takano posted a video criticizing what he described as the impugnation of Good’s character by Noem and White House adviser Stephen Miller before the facts were established.
“She died unjustly,” Takano said. “We need justice. We need accountability. Renee Nicole Good…let’s remember her.”
Galvan hopes congressional lawmakers will continue to demand accountability, but also want them to be “present when the community needs them.”
“We see so many of them talking on the national mainstream media and getting all of this coverage about how strong they're standing up to Trump,” she said. “our neighborhoods, our communities, our cities are suffering, and we need them to come stand with us and to stand with us all the time. This is just a pattern of letting down the Inland Empire.”
