MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — Earlier this week, the intersection of 34th Street and Portland Avenue was a chaotic scene of violence and tears. A mangled maroon Honda Pilot sat crushed against a telephone pole as its driver, Renee Good, lay dying after being shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Bystanders, including a woman who identified herself as Good’s wife, screamed and sobbed.
Days later, the vehicle and ICE agents are gone. But the tears are not, and neither is the outrage.
On Friday morning (Jan. 9), dozens of mourners and faith leaders gathered at the same intersection for an impromptu memorial — one of multiple in the area — for Good. As neighbors and dignitaries such as U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., shuffled carefully over a patch of ice stretching alongside the growing mountain of flowers, candles and photos, three clergy members belted a rendition of the hymn “We Rise.”
Good’s killing by a federal agent has kicked off a wave of protests across the country. And while President Donald Trump’s administration has insisted the ICE agent who shot her was acting in self-defense, Minnesotans gathered at Good’s memorial who saw video footage of the incident were unconvinced and fru …