A day after a woman in Minneapolis was killed by an immigration agent, religious leaders and advocates gathered on the steps of an immigration building in downtown Los Angeles to honor her and condemn her killing.
Carrying prints of Renee Nicole Good, the woman shot in the head by an immigration agent, a crowd of about 100 people gathered Thursday morning for a vigil organized by pastors and Laity United for Economic Justice and joined by immigrant rights groups. They were holding signs that read “Justice for Renee.”
“We are standing in fear, fear and sadness, a deep sorrow that happened unnecessarily,” said Rev. Francisco Garcia. “Murder is at the hands of our tax dollars. It is state-sanctioned. This will not be the case, this cannot stand, and we give our continued testimony against these atrocities, against this evil.”
A woman protests the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in front of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
One woman held a sign that read: “End the ICE death squads.”
Good, a mother of three who recently moved to Minneapolis, was driving her car Wednesday morning when she was stopped by immigration officials. Videos of the incident have gone viral online and appear to show Good, 37, being told to get out of his car, with one agent walking by and tapping on the door handle. He appears to be backing up when another agent pulls up in front of his car and, as he appears to be driving forward, shoots him.
Good’s death sparked protests that filled the streets of Minneapolis, throwing the city into chaos. Similar protests have spread throughout the country.
In Sacramento, police said protesters vandalized a state building while marching in response to the shooting. Television station KCRA reported that the demonstration was peaceful until a small group of protesters he pushed the security gate and threw stones at parked cars and a building.
Ampara Rincon, holding a portrait of Good, watched as protesters left flowers in Good’s memory.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
In San Francisco, several hundred people marched through the city on Wednesday, chanting, “Trump must go now,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Trump administration defended the agent’s action, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accusing Good of trying to handle the agent and calling it an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officials.
For months, the administration has argued that the immigration measures are necessary to carry out Trump’s border protection mandate. On Thursday, DHS released statistics that officials say show that ICE agents have faced an increase in traffic attacks.
Local leaders disputed the administration’s account that the agents were defending themselves by saying Good was trying to fire them, with Mayor Jacob Frey calling the claim “rubbish.” He asked the organization to withdraw its agents from the city.
For months, pastors have been organizing vigils and marches in downtown Los Angeles to demand an end to immigration attacks. This time, they felt compelled to speak out because even though Minneapolis is about 1,900 kilometers away, Good’s death was felt across the country, said Pastor Carlos Rincon.
“It’s a life taken in a horrible way,” said Rincon. “I felt it was very important to be there, cry, pray but criticize, you know what this organization does because it comes from the president.”
As an immigrant himself, Rincon said he has attended protests to testify. When a large protest broke out at Paramount last year, Rincon was there with a Bible and dressed in clerical clothes to help defuse the fight. Instead, he said he was shot with rubber bullets and tear gas by the police. Violent confrontations between federal immigration agents and bystanders have continued, and Rincon fears that a moment like this is bound to happen.
“He made a lot of sacrifices on behalf of our community, and I wanted to honor him,” she said.
For many, this shooting was a sign of the escalation of the authorities who say they have turned against their citizens. In California, ICE agents opened fire during immigration stops. On August 16, undercover US Customs and Border Protection officers cornered a man driving his truck and smashed his driver’s side window. When he tried to drive away, another agent shot the truck three times, leaving bullet holes in the side of the vehicle.
A protester holds a picture of Okuhle in front of a sign calling for an end to ICE.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
In December, an ICE agent shot a man in South LA and wounded a deputy U.S. Marshal who was hit by a ricochet bullet.
In Chicago, Border Patrol agents shot a woman multiple times after they accused her of ramming her car into an agent’s car. He was charged with assault, but the charges were eventually dropped.
“We are dealing with fascism with the administration fighting its citizens,” said Martha Arevalo, executive director of CARECEN LA. “What we’re seeing across the country is unprecedented, and it’s an attack on all of us, undocumented or citizens, it doesn’t matter. We’re all vulnerable. We should all be concerned. We should all be angry.”
LA resident Kelsey Harper said she felt angry and shocked when she heard about Good’s death. He felt compelled to attend the event and support an end to immigration and violent conflict.
“This is only if enough people are active about it,” Harper said. “The most we can do is show each other.”
