Madison McVan and Max Nesterak - Vigil for Renee Nicole Good Becomes a Call to Action Against ICE
APACHE JUNCTION, AZ [IFS] -- On a cold Wednesday evening in south Minneapolis, thousands of people gathered along Portland Avenue near 34th Street, their breath visible in the winter air, their hands clutching candles that flickered against the snow. Just hours earlier, in the same spot, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good had been shot and killed while sitting in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. By nightfall, the scene had transformed into a vigil — and, quickly, into something more.
Flowers piled up near the patch of snow where Good’s vehicle came to rest after the shooting. Candles ringed the area. Whistles cut through the quiet, punctuating moments of silence with sharp bursts of sound. What began as grief soon turned into anger, and then into resolve.
Good’s death has already become a rallying cry for activists and residents pushing back against President Donald Trump’s renewed mass deportation campaign — a policy marked by the deployment of heavily armed, masked federal officers into selected cities across the country, including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, and Memphis. For many gathered Wednesday night, the shooting was not an isolated tragedy, but a symbol of a broader escalation.
“No Trump, no troops, Twin Cities ain’t licking boots,” the crowd chanted, their voices echoing down the avenue. Several speakers demanded the prosecution of the ICE agent who fired the fatal shots, while others urged the crowd to organize, monitor federal enforcement actions, and refuse to normalize what they described as occupation-style policing.
For Carly Morford of northeast Minneapolis, the decision to attend the vigil came after watching video of the killing circulate online. She said she was stunned not only by what she saw, but by the federal government’s response.
“I’m not going to sit by while my fellow Minnesotans are shot and killed,” Morford said. “And so even though I’m just one person and it’s not going to do anything, a bunch of people coming out is.”
Earlier Wednesday, the Trump administration had labeled Good a “domestic terrorist,” a characterization that many at the vigil rejected outright. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking at a press conference, said Good had “weaponized her vehicle” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.”
But video provided to the Minnesota Reformer complicates that account. The footage shows an officer stepping into position in front of Good’s car and firing three shots through the windshield as the vehicle appears to turn away from him. The discrepancy between the official narrative and the video evidence has only deepened public outrage.
“For them to sit there and lie, and try to paint a false narrative about Renee, is exactly what they have done for police abuse victims year after year after year,” said civil rights attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, drawing applause from the crowd. Her words tapped into a collective memory that remains raw in Minneapolis.
Less than a mile away, in May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, a killing that ignited weeks of protests, unrest, and a nationwide reckoning over racism and police violence. For many in attendance, Wednesday night felt like history looping back on itself — the same streets, the same grief, the same questions about accountability.
The emotional weight of that history hung over the vigil. Some attendees wiped away tears; others stood stone-faced, listening. Parents brought children bundled in winter coats. Elders leaned on canes. Strangers hugged.
Yet amid the mourning, organizers emphasized action. Dani Replogle moved through the crowd handing out fliers for Defend 612, an ICE watch group that coordinates neighborhood patrols and trains residents to observe and document enforcement operations.
Replogle said she has been patrolling the Powderhorn Park area where she lives for about six weeks. During that time, she witnessed a raid in which someone was handcuffed. As neighbors gathered to record and provide legal guidance, the situation shifted.
“That person didn’t end up being abducted that day,” Replogle said. “It was really moving.”
Stories like that circulated through the crowd, reinforcing the idea that collective presence can change outcomes — that visibility itself can be a form of protection.
As the vigil stretched into the evening, the tone oscillated between solemn remembrance and defiant energy. Candles burned low. Chants rose again. Organizers urged people not to let the moment fade with the news cycle.
Renee Nicole Good’s name was spoken again and again, carried on the cold air. For those gathered on Portland Avenue, her death marked not just another chapter in Minneapolis’ long struggle with state violence, but a turning point — one that, they vowed, would demand consequences.
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The killing has reopened wounds from the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd, which ignited widespread protests and riots in 2020
Madison McVan and Max Nesterak
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January 7, 2026
8:44 pm
Thousands gathered at Portland Avenue near 34th Street in south Minneapolis to honor the life of Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
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