When Michelle Bloom first watched the videos, she was “horrified.”
Gretchen Clearwater saw what she called a “heinous,” “illegal” killing.
Cassy Caswell had a “visceral reaction.” She could feel it in her stomach, in her bones.
All three Bloomington residents attended a vigil Thursday night at Sample Gates for 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, the woman shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Multiple videos of the incident show Good’s vehicle stopped in the middle of a road when ICE agents approach her. Two agents are positioned closest to the car: one by the driver’s door, and Ross, who walks toward the front left of the vehicle. As the agent attempts to open the driver’s door, Good reverses then starts driving forward with the car’s tires turned away from Ross. Ross then fires three shots at Good.
A Department of Homeland Security statement Wednesday characterized Good as a violent rioter attempting to kill officers and stated that the ICE agent “fired defensive shots.” President Donald Trump claimed in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that Good had run over the agent, hospitalizing him.
But footage of the incident, accounts from eyewitnesses and local leaders all dispute federal officials’ version of events.
“Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote in an X post Wednesday responding to the DHS statement. “The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
The FBI has since blocked state law-enforcement officials from the investigation into the shooting, a move Walz denounced.
Thursday night’s vigil was promoted online and endorsed by the local chapter of 50501, a nationwide progressive organization that has arranged protests against the Trump administration. It lasted around an hour and featured about 50 people, who expressed both sadness and outrage at the killing. Many held candles or signs. “Empathy shouldn’t be radical,” one sign read. “ICE out of everywhere,” a banner stated.
Several people gave speeches. One led the group in song.
“Solidarity forever, solidarity forever, solidarity forever, ‘cause community makes us strong,” demonstrators sang.
Bloom said she attended the vigil to acknowledge Good was a person — a wife and mother — and not the terrorist DHS labeled her as.
“No family should ever have to not only lose the person that they love but be stigmatized in that way,” Bloom said. “It’s just, it’s awful.”
She said the event was also about showing that those who are outraged can stand up for their community, including immigrants.
William Rush, who also attended the vigil, said it allowed people to express their sadness and frustration. He said the videos of the shooting made him think both of Good’s children and his own.
“I think about what it would be like for them to lose me or for me to lose them, and you see something like that happen and all I can think about is what her family is going through now and the anger I feel at that — that she was taken from them for no reason,” Rush said.
Activists have also held demonstrations against ICE and Good’s killing in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities. The local chapter of 50501 is planning demonstrations Friday and Sunday at the Monroe County Courthouse against the ICE shooting, the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other actions by the Trump administration.
