Protests continue for nearly a week after the shooting in Minneapolis
Federal agents clashed with demonstrators in St. Paul and Minneapolis on Tuesday (January 13), nearly a week after the shooting death of Renee Good by federal agents, as demonstrations continued outside federal buildings and in communities.
I’m here again.
Nearly six years after former police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, the city has been left in a tinderbox of grief and anger. And activism.
It has a new face. It’s the exact same pain. This time the victim is a white woman. Her name is Renee Nicole Good. She was 37 years old and a mother of three children.
“We are completely traumatized. People are deeply traumatized,” said former Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins. “It’s just six blocks from where George Floyd was killed, and it’s literally like the same people. Same community, same people, the whole city.”
Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent while sitting in his car on January 7th. It happened not far from where Floyd was killed.
Good was a volunteer with the Neighborhood Patrol network, which organizes local activists to track, monitor and document ICE operations in Minneapolis.
In the days after George Floyd’s murder, things changed. There have been no violent and destructive protests. However, the city center is destroyed again.
“It’s been relentless and people are exhausted,” Jenkins told me. “But apparently we’re serious about fighting this invasion and pushing back, because it really feels like an invasion. We have more federal agents here than local police.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized Goode’s actions as “domestic terrorism.” Hours after the shooting, Noem said the officer shot Good in self-defense and claimed Good had tried to hit the officer with his car.
The video appears to show Good’s car turning away from the officer who fired the fatal shots, with one shot hitting the windshield and two others coming through the open driver’s side window. All shots appear to have been fired as Good’s car passed in front of the agents.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reacted to the administration’s portrayal, lashing out: “I’ve seen the video myself and I want to say directly that this is bullish.”
However, Deputy U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche said in a statement that the investigation was “baseless.”
“Continue fighting against injustice”
During the Chauvin trial, I spent two months in Minneapolis. My mission was to tell the story of this city. Get to know residents, activists, and political leaders. And to write about how Floyd’s murder changed not just the fabric of Minneapolis, but this country.
In the wake of Goode’s death, I wanted to revisit some of these people, their experiences and motivations.
It was justice for the community then, and it is justice now.
“People are trying to be more intentional,” community activist Anthony Taylor told me. “I’m in all these communities, so I know the people who are affected. It’s a very strange kind of reality. I don’t think I’m at risk, but I know that people one class above me are. Our cultural ethos allows us to continue to fight injustice because we believe we can do it.”
Good’s wife, Becca Good, said in a statement that the couple “stopped to assist their neighbors,” adding: “We had whistles. They had guns.”
“Renee lived by the overarching belief that kindness exists in the world and that we need to find a place for it and do everything we can to nurture it where it needs to grow,” Becca Good said in a statement.
“Renee is a Christian and knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: We are here to love and care for each other and to keep each other safe and sound.”
These regions and their people have a tradition of activism. I saw it. We talked about it with them in 2020. I continue to do so even now. They react very sensitively when they believe someone has been unjustly killed. Or abuse by law enforcement.
“The global reaction to George Floyd only happens if it happens in Minneapolis,” Taylor said. “People here are still shocked by that murder. They are shocked and believe that by marching and protesting we can accomplish something. This is a communal response.”
A change from the supposed anger and violence that many opponents wanted to portray. People in Minneapolis were furious in 2020. And so it is now. But they also learned that justice comes with measures.
“Protests are becoming more disciplined,” Taylor told me. “New organizers are organizing. After the killing of George Floyd and the response, something was stirred up. People are trying to act in a more deliberate way.
“This is not a riot,” Taylor continued. “This is a very purposeful response centered around the protection of our community members and the obligation we all have to keep them safe.”
Suzette Hackney is a national columnist. Contact her at:@suzyscribe
