Statement on ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota

An unidentified ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman and legal observer in Minneapolis today. Her name was Renee Nicole Good. This is one of the most brutal examples of state-sanctioned murder we’ve seen since the new administration took over. 

We offer our deepest condolences to all of Renee’s loved ones. We honor her life and the loss of her life as a martyr defending her community. 

This execution took place less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020, and in the same state where the fight against oil pipeline Line 3 took off. 

The current administration has long been targeting Minnesota, a hub for social movements, treating it as a testing ground for its fascist policies. Earlier this week, 2,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents were deployed to Minneapolis in what the agency called its “largest operation to date.” Yesterday, the administration announced plans to halt $10 billion in social services funding to five Democratic-led states, including Minnesota.

The escalation of force cannot be separated from the administration’s kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and its ongoing support of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. This administration has been testing its capacity to violate international law with impunity. This is what emboldened fascism and imperialism looks like. 

The current administration is already spinning its threads of propaganda, insisting the ICE officers were in danger, that they acted in self-defense, and that the woman they killed was a domestic terrorist. 

We know this isn’t true. She was not a terrorist. The officer did not act in self-defense. The video footage proves this.

At Honor the Earth, we know that labeling civilians as domestic terrorists when they oppose unjust state power is an old tactic. We saw it when our Peoples were first colonized, we saw it at Standing Rock, we saw it at Line 3, and we’re seeing it now.

This was not a coincidence, or an accident. A legal observer was murdered because she was a witness to state abuse. It is clear that the administration is rising to new levels of violence and authoritarianism in order to scare us into submission. 

Fascists only respond to power. And our power comes from each other. Our power comes from being organized. This is why we need to continue doing the work we do, helping our communities to prepare. 

For hundreds of years on Turtle Island, our Peoples have faced terror, expulsion, and genocide at the hands of the state. We know what horrors are possible. It's okay to be afraid, as long as we remain brave. 

The more we’re courageous, the more we’re trained, and the more we’re aware, the stronger we are. 

Only we can save ourselves.