George Samuelson
If Mrs. Good was a "domestic terrorist," then the United States is a breeding ground of all those millions of "terrorists" who drive around town with their families inside of SUVs.
Americans took to the streets over the weekend in over 1,000 protests across the country to demand justice for a mother who was shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Renee Nicole Good was your typical suburban American. She was the mother of three children and liked to write poetry. But on January 7, her life was cut tragically short when she was shot in the head by an ICE agent, yet another tragedy that has sharply divided the nation. The protesters insist that Good was unjustly killed, and the visual evidence of the incident strongly supports that argument.
Good was seen on video blocking a neighborhood street with her SUV. While that is certainly grounds for law enforcement to arrive on the scene, what happened in the course of action defies logic. As two ICE agents approach the vehicle, no attempt to calmly converse with Good was seen. Instead, one of the agents grabs the door handle and aggressively demanded that Good exit the vehicle. Obviously scared by the encounter, Good made a fatal decision as she attempted to flee the scene. This caused the second officer, who was standing off to the left in front of the vehicle, to open fire at the windshield with three bullets, hitting Good in the head and killing her instantly.
Most people by now recognize the difference between a regular police stop and the abuse of police powers. A routine police stop involves the officer speaking to the driver in a calm manner while performing the necessary task of checking documents, like the driver's license and registration. Most Americans are rightly frightened when they get pulled over by the police, and this necessitates that the intervening officer keep the situation under control. That was clearly not the case with Renee Good, who had the misfortune of coming in contact with an ICE agent who is clearly in the wrong profession.
While the jury is still out on the incident, it does not bode well for civil rights in the United States how Good was treated by the Trump administration following the cold-blooded murder. Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, portrayed the victim, a mother and award-winning poet, as a "domestic terrorist". Good, Noem continued without providing any evidence, had been "stalking and impeding" ICE officers before "weaponizing her vehicle" in an effort to run over the agent who ultimately killed her.
The victim-blaming did not end there. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a spokesperson for ICE, declared in a post on X that "one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them - an act of domestic terrorism".
And just like that, an American mother has been placed in the same category as Osama bin Laden. This gross characterization will only serve to reinforce law enforcement in the United States that they are justified for using any means necessary to fight against "the enemy," which are the very people they are supposed to protect. Two days after the killing of Mrs. Good, Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon shot at the occupants of a vehicle as they attempted to flee.
When the Border Patrol agents identified themselves to the car's occupants, "the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents," McLaughlin said. One agent, "fearing for his life and safety," fired a shot, and the driver sped off with the passenger, she said. The occupants of the vehicle survived the attack while an investigation into the shooting is unlikely to provide any real answers.
Of course, there are times when there is no choice but for the authorities to use deadly force when confronting certain individuals in particular cases. What is disturbing about the recent incidences, however, is that the Trump administration is tossing around explosive terms like "domestic terrorists" and "rioters" before any investigation has begun.
It is very difficult to believe that Mrs. Good was a "domestic terrorist." If that were true, then the United States is a breeding ground of all those millions of 'terrorists' who drive around town with their families inside of SUVs. The US Constitution clearly provides for the American people to have the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to address the wrongs of the US government. All of those liberties were glaringly denied to this single American mother, who tragically lost her life due to the brazen behavior of law enforcement. The Trump administration has a duty to not only round up illegal immigrants, but to make sure American citizens are not treated like terrorists in the process.