Nationwide Protests Demand Accountability from ICE After Killing of Renee Good

Demonstrations Across the U.S. Call for Justice, Oversight, and an End to ICE Violence

Protesters in cities across the United States have launched a coordinated wave of demonstrations demanding accountability from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.[1][3]

The Killing That Sparked a Movement

Good was killed on January 7, 2026, when ICE agent Jonathan Ross fired three shots into her SUV on a Minneapolis residential street, fatally wounding her.[1][2] According to publicly reported accounts and video analysis, Good’s vehicle was stopped perpendicularly in the street when agents approached.[1][2] After roughly a minute of interaction, Good began to move her vehicle forward; Ross then stepped in front of the SUV and fired at close range.[1][2]

Federal officials, including a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson, defended the shooting as an act of self-defense, claiming that Good attempted to run over agents and describing the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism.”[1] However, media analyses of multiple video angles, including a detailed review reported by The New York Times, indicate that Good appeared to be steering away from officers when the shots were fired, raising serious questions about the government’s narrative.[2]

Witness accounts further intensified public anger. A bystander who identified himself as a physician reportedly attempted to provide medical assistance immediately after the shooting but was blocked by ICE agents, who said first responders were on the way.[1] Emergency medical services arrived several minutes later; Good was removed from her vehicle and CPR was administered, but she was pronounced dead after being transported from the scene.[1]

Who Was Renee Good?

Good was not an immigration enforcement target. She was a U.S. citizen, a neighbor, and an active community member involved in immigrant rights work.[1][2] Friends and colleagues describe her as part of an informal “ICE Watch” rapid response network formed by parents at her son’s charter school to document ICE raids, observe officers’ conduct, and alert neighbors.[2]

Members of the group say Good had received training on how to safely monitor ICE actions: how to listen to commands, how to assert legal rights, and how to signal for help or witnesses when agents appeared in the neighborhood.[2] On the morning she was killed, Good had reportedly just dropped off her six-year-old child at school before encountering ICE agents.[2]

From Tragedy to Nationwide Mobilization

In the days following Good’s death, a broad coalition of civil rights, immigrant justice, labor, and community organizations announced a nationwide weekend of action under the banner “ICE Out For Good.”[3] The coalition includes groups such as the Center for Popular Democracy, United We Dream, Voto Latino, and local grassroots networks that have long criticized ICE’s tactics.[3]

Actions are being organized in cities and towns across the country, including Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and numerous smaller communities.[3] Organizers emphasize that the events are designed as nonviolent, community-led gatherings intended to honor Good’s life and highlight a pattern of violence that they say extends far beyond a single incident.[3]

According to the coalition’s call to action, the mobilization has several core demands:[3]

• Accountability and transparency in the killing of Renee Nicole Good, including an independent investigation into the conduct of ICE agents involved.
• Public recognition and humanization of people killed by ICE, including Good and others who have died in custody or during enforcement operations.
• Exposure of broader patterns of ICE violence, including deaths, injuries, and alleged abuses in detention facilities nationwide.[3]
• Structural change, with many groups calling for ICE to be removed from local communities and, in some cases, for the agency to be abolished altogether.[3]
• Political pressure on elected officials and federal agencies to rein in immigration enforcement practices and strengthen civilian oversight.[3]

Pattern of Violence and a Deadliest Year

Advocates argue that Good’s killing is part of a broader escalation in ICE’s use of force. In Chicago, 38-year-old cook Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by ICE during a traffic stop in September 2025 after allegedly attempting to flee, not long after dropping off his children at childcare.[2][3] In July 2025, farmworker Jaime Alanís García died after falling from a greenhouse roof in Ventura County, California, while trying to escape an ICE raid.[2][3]

Detention facilities have also seen a surge in deaths. Advocates report that more than 30 people died in ICE custody in 2025, marking the agency’s deadliest year since its creation in 2003.[2][3] Legal and human rights groups have documented allegations of medical neglect, inadequate mental health care, and prolonged confinement in poor conditions.[3][4]

“Good and the Portland victims are part of a broader and deeply alarming pattern of unchecked violence and abuse by federal immigration enforcement agencies,” the “ICE Out For Good” coalition stated, linking the Minneapolis shooting to other recent incidents, including ICE shootings that injured a man and a woman in Portland, Oregon, just one day after Good’s death.[3][2]

Clashing Narratives and Legal Questions

The killing has exposed a sharp divide between federal officials’ characterization of ICE’s actions and the views of local leaders, civil rights groups, and many residents. While DHS officials maintain that officers acted within policy and in self-defense, critics point to video evidence and the absence of visible injuries to agents as evidence that the official account is unreliable.[1][2]

Portland’s mayor, reacting to the separate ICE shooting there, said there “was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past,” calling for ICE to leave the city and for an independent investigation.[2] National organizations, including the ACLU and immigrant rights groups, argue that the Minneapolis and Portland shootings demonstrate that ICE is “out of control” and that current oversight mechanisms are inadequate.[3]

Legal experts say Good’s family may have potential claims against the federal government under statutes such as the Federal Tort Claims Act and civil rights laws, though such cases face significant procedural and immunity hurdles.[4] The American Immigration Council notes that families in similar cases must often navigate complex questions around federal officer liability, the scope of constitutional protections during enforcement operations, and whether courts will recognize new avenues for damages.[4]

Political Stakes and Calls for Structural Reform

National advocacy organizations have explicitly tied the rise in ICE violence to federal policy choices and leadership. The Center for Popular Democracy and partner groups argue that under the current administration, ICE has become “more aggressive, more reckless, and more deadly,” and that the killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis is not an isolated “failure” but a predictable outcome of a political agenda that rewards force over de-escalation.[3]

Some coalition members are pressing for immediate policy changes short of abolition, including:

• Stricter limits on ICE’s use of force and vehicle engagement policies.
• Mandatory release and preservation of body camera and bystander video in fatal incidents.
• Independent, civilian-led investigations of shootings and deaths in custody.
• Ending local police cooperation agreements that facilitate ICE operations in neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.

Others insist that incremental reform is insufficient. “We demand accountability for the killing of Renee Nicole Good and for the countless lives lost at the hands of ICE. The lesson is clear: this violence will not stop until ICE is abolished,” one statement from coalition partners declared.[3]

Families and Communities in Mourning

In Minneapolis, Good’s neighbors and fellow parents have organized vigils at the site of the shooting, school-based memorials, and rapid response trainings in her honor.[2] Local organizers say their immediate focus is supporting Good’s children and family while ensuring that her case does not fade from public view as investigations proceed.

Across the country, this weekend’s rallies, marches, and community gatherings are expected to combine mourning with political demands. Organizers emphasize storytelling, the naming of victims, and the visibility of families affected by ICE enforcement.”[3]

For many participants, Good’s killing has become a defining symbol of their critique of federal immigration enforcement—one that raises fundamental questions about who is safe in their own neighborhood, and what accountability looks like when those pulling the trigger wear a federal badge.