It’s now been over a week since ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. I’m sick and conflicted. I imagine these feelings will persist for some time as the repercussions of the shooting multiply.
The Minnesota protests are increasingly violent, with protestors throwing snowballs, rocks and fireworks at law enforcement. On the other hand, officers in full tactical gear are using tear gas, pepper balls and spray, stun grenades and physical force to suppress protests.
In the days following the shooting, federal agents released chemical irritants near a high school and arrested numerous staff members at the school, leading Minneapolis Public Schools to shutter in-person learning for the rest of the week. In another instance, ICE allegedly used stun grenades and tear gas on a young couple driving their six children – the youngest being six months old – away from a protest they weren’t participating in.
However, as previously stated, the violence goes both ways. As a man in Minnesota tried to flee from ICE, two other people assaulted an agent with a snow shovel and broom handle, according to the Department of Homeland Security. CNN reported that when the “original suspect” began attacking the agent as well, the officer shot them in the leg. The officer’s use of force in this situation was non-lethal and appears to have been justified regardless of one’s stance on ICE and its use of targeted traffic stops like the one that preceded this situation.
The contrast is stark. When an agent faced an active assault, they managed to use non-lethal force. Yet when faced with a woman sitting in a car, Jonathan Ross chose to kill her immediately.
Experts have concluded using video analysis that Renee Good did not run over Jonathan Ross, as he and his allies claimed. Instead, the footage shows Ross to be solely responsible for stepping into the path of the vehicle, creating the very danger he used to justify the shooting. Federal agents interacting with civilians should be held responsible for de-escalating such situations, but Ross did the exact opposite, killing a defenseless woman.
Now, I would be remiss not to mention that Ross is reported to have suffered internal bleeding. However, journalists at CBS who first broke that news have expressed skepticism at the validity or entire truthfulness of said report, noting that a bruise technically counts as internal bleeding. As of now, no further analysis of the severity of Ross’ injury – who walked away from the scene without any apparent discomfort – has been made.
For those who claim that Renee Good is at fault for putting herself in that situation, I can only say that you’re wrong. The U.S. government has increasingly militarized its law agencies and federal agents in recent years. If citizens of this nation believe that these developments have caused the government to overreach its boundaries and threaten the liberty and freedom of themselves and their neighbors, then they are justified in resisting. It’s the same principle behind the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag that Jonathan Ross proudly flies in front of his own home.
The Trump administration claims that Renee Good was a domestic terrorist who was part of a “broader left-wing network.” Additionally, they have refused to open an investigation into the legality of Jonathan Ross’ actions, instead pushing the Justice Department to investigate Renee Good and her wife’s connections with activist groups. Six federal prosecutors, including Joseph Thompson, the second-in-command at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, have since resigned in protest. None of Renee Good’s actions or participation in certain groups warrant the involvement of federal law enforcement. When federal agencies investigate activist groups that partake in non-violent protest and protect the use of excessive violent force by the government, they set a wildly dangerous precedent that threatens the basic rights of citizens to free speech and assembly.
However, what is more concerning to me is the way this nation is responding to the shooting.
My social media feed has become an ongoing war between people defending Renee Good and people defending Jonathan Ross. The killing of an innocent person is no longer a tragedy. It is another divisive partisan test. It feels to me that any common ground that previously existed is quickly disappearing, and people are being forced to pick a side. Either you stand with a government that is dispatching masked agents in unmarked cars, causing chaos and terror in communities across the country, or you stand with dissenters pushed toward increasingly confrontational tactics.
I know what side I stand with, yet I’m still conflicted. I have current and former law enforcement in my family, as well as a deep disdain for any form of violence. I will always stand on the side protecting freedom from authoritarianism, but that doesn’t make me any less sick at the fact that we now live in a world where I have to make that decision.
