Let’s Make Renee Good the Final Individual That ICE Kills

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Shortly after dropping her 6-year-old son off in school, Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

Republican leaders tried to smear Good as a “home terrorist” and declare that Ross acted in “self-defense.” However the incident was caught on video, and all of us noticed it: an ICE agent murdering a 37-year-old mom. Good was additionally a US citizen, the demographic that ICE is claiming to guard.

ICE’s goal in Minnesota has been to sow chaos and terror, with a spotlight in Minneapolis, one of the crucial numerous areas within the state. Many residents really feel like they’re residing underneath occupation. ICE brokers are snatching residents from bus stops. Black and brown US residents are carrying their passports in every single place to maintain from being kidnapped by federal brokers. Companies are struggling as individuals are afraid to indicate as much as work. Faculties are on lockdown as ICE reveals as much as harass and assault college students and educators. And now ICE has shot and killed a neighbor.

Whereas the violence of occupation isn’t the usual in Minneapolis, these latest occasions really feel all too acquainted. Good’s homicide occurred simply six blocks from the place Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd. A badge doesn’t provide you with a license to kill with impunity. We didn’t quietly settle for the homicide of George Floyd in 2020, and we won’t settle for the homicide of Renee Good now.

Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem has outrageously claimed that ICE helps to maintain individuals secure. What’s turn into blatantly clear is that ICE is the largest menace to our group’s security. That’s why the primary demand from Minneapolis residents has been for ICE to depart.

Hundreds of residents, together with Good, have been organizing to guard our neighbors. Delivering groceries to households, so nobody is kidnapped whereas attempting to feed their family members. Strolling children to colleges so households aren’t torn aside on the way in which house. Distributing whistles, so we are able to alert our neighbors when ICE is on our streets. These actions aren’t at all times seen, however they’re serving to to maintain households collectively.

As a neighborhood elected official, I’m working with my colleagues to push our governor to take motion to maintain households of their houses by instituting an eviction moratorium. Governor Tim Walz can present the remainder of the nation that Democrats can resist Trump and shield residents focused by the administration’s merciless insurance policies. A whole bunch of households are unable to soundly go to work, and shouldn’t have to decide on between conserving a roof over their heads and risking being completely separated from their family members.

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Minnesota Lawyer Normal Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Lawyer Mary Moriarty introduced Friday that they’re conducting an impartial investigation into the killing of Good, a vital step as we can not belief Trump’s businesses to conduct a good arrest, investigation, or trial.

However to actually put an finish to ICE and the rising tide of fascism underneath Trump, the Democratic Get together should take quick and daring motion for the next:

Return our neighbors who’ve been kidnapped by the federal authorities.

Finish funding for ICE and abolish the company.

States, beginning with Minnesota, should withhold federal taxes till there’s a humane immigration system.

Successful these calls for require extra than simply voting. We’d like national-level labor organizing for strikes and shutdowns to interrupt the financial system and power a change after all till we are able to all dwell free from the worry of being kidnapped or shot by armed brokers. The ICE Out of Minnesota Financial Blackout deliberate for January 23 is a good begin.

As a result of whereas the eyes of the world have as soon as once more turned to Minneapolis after a person with a badge killed considered one of our neighbors, this can be a nationwide drawback.

Lower than 48 hours after an ICE agent killed Good, federal brokers shot two individuals in Portland. They’ve already focused Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans. It could possibly be your metropolis subsequent. So long as ICE exists, no one is secure—not even a 37-year-old mother and US citizen. It’s going to take all of us doing our elements to finish this violence.

This second will go down in historical past, however we now have a alternative about how. If we do nothing, this can mark the start of a interval the place federal brokers can kill us with impunity.

But when we act, we are able to make this the second that lastly turned the tide towards rising fascism and ended Trump’s assaults on our communities. The time for mass motion is now—let’s make this the final life stolen by ICE.