Renee Nicole Good

Three things people should think about

(Disclaimer: We will undoubtedly learn more about what happened in Minneapolis this week, so I reserve the right to change my opinions as facts emerge.)

I am enraged. Furious. Murderously angry. Incensed. Irate.

I won’t go through all the facts of Renee Good’s death. I imagine everyone reading this has seen at least one video of the encounter that left her bleeding out in her car on the side of the road, her head blown apart by an ICE agent’s bullet(s).

Instead, I want to talk about a few aspects of this that I’m not seeing discussed as much as I think they should be.

First: Everyone needs to know that ICE has no law enforcement authority over any US citizen unless that citizen is somehow in violation of immigration law. They have no authority to order a citizen to do anything, no authority to detain a citizen, no authority to question a citizen, and no authority to search a citizen.

Exceptions include if the citizen physically interferes with an arrest ICE is making, or physically assaults an officer.

If an ICE agent detains, questions, or arrests someone and they are a U.S. citizen, ICE is in violation of their 4th and 5th Amendment rights.

ICE has no authority to detain someone unless they believe they have probable cause to deport that person—which obviously does not apply to US citizens.

ICE has no authority to enforce criminal law. Their authority is exclusive to immigration.

Absent probable cause or those above-described exigent circumstances, ICE agents had no authority to approach Renee Good’s vehicle. But she had the right to leave. When armed people who have no legal authority over you are threatening your safety, you have every right to flee.

ICE was unlawful in approching Renee Good’s vehicle. It was unlawful for them to attempt to open her car door. If Agent Jon Ross was indeed standing in front of her car to keep her from leaving, that was unlawful.

Second: I’ve been listening to people and reading what people have to say about this awful tragedy. What struck me today is that every woman I know has had this encounter before, multiple times, just without the gun or the pretended “law enforcement” element. Some man tells her to do something she doesn’t want to do. She ignores him, or laughs at him, or tells him to go pound sand. The man explodes with anger and/or violence.

Sure, not all men — but always men.

And, I would venture to say, in the US it is most men, particularly white men. Culturally, men still believe at some level that they are inherently superior to women, and are in charge by default. Women who challenge that are to be put back in their place. This is steeped in men from childhood. They get a hefty dose of it in fundamentalist churches (this includes fundamentalists of all religions, but particularly Christianity and Islam). They are fawned over in childhood by doting mothers. Studies show teachers give them more attention in class than their female counterparts, even when (and sometimes especially when) they are misbehaving. When they behave badly, they hear “boys will be boys.” Judges like the one in Brock Turner’s rape trial are lenient because a lengthy prison sentence will have a negative impact on a man’s life. Clarence Thomas’s pattern of sexual harassment didn’t keep him off the Supreme Court — neither did Brett Kavanaugh’s history as an attempted rapist. An adjudicated rapist occupies the White House.

In the workplace, men repeat ideas women have already articulated and suddenly they are heard. Men make more money than women for the same (or inferior) work. Men are more likely to be promoted when performance is comparable. The same behavior called “assertive” in men is called “aggressive” in women. Men are held to less stringent appearance and behavior standards than women.

In the US, men expect women to be deferential to them—to have their inherent, obvious superiority recognized. They believe they are in charge of every situation by default. Women who challenge this natural order are to be put in their place.

Even among those people who see ICE for what it is (the Trump version of secret police/goon squad), I see men saying that Renee Good’s action caused her own death. Although they don’t say it explicitly, the implication is that this woman was noncompliant, defiant, and did not recognize that the men there automatically had authority just for being men. She deserved what she got. It was her fault. It is exactly the same victim shaming that we see men do to victims of rape and sexual assault.

So let’s just be super clear about this: Renee Good was in no way responsible for what happened to her. Had she gotten out of the car, she knew those agents would have roughed her up -- likely yanked her to the ground, injured her, even illegally detained her. It is also likely that would have provoked her wife into engaging and escalating. That is ICE's M.O., as we have seen over and over.

Renee Good acted reasonably to try to leave the scene. Video makes it clear she didn't hit the officer. She turned her wheels to the right in order to avoid him. He didn't shoot her because he was threatened -- he shot her because he was surprised and angry that she wasn't complying. Calling her a(n) [effing] bitch makes that crystal clear.

Ms. Good is not merely a victim, but a blameless one.

Finally — today’s released video from ICE Agent Jon Ross’s cell phone, showing the first person perspective of the shooter, showed something I hadn’t noticed before (thank you to my friend Desi for sharing a video from “Jaysworld 411” that pointed this out).

While he is still on the right side of the car and walking around the vehicle, before he crosses in front of it, he switches his cell phone from his dominant to his non-dominant hand. You can see this in the other videos too, but there's a moment where the camera isn't properly aimed in his video that made it obvious. He moves it from his right to his left hand. Once you notice this, it is apparent in the other videos, as well.

This makes it clear Ross was preparing to use his gun before he even walked in front of her car. That is long before this stopped car could in any way be imagined to be a threat. He had walked in front of it previously, before walking around it filming it.

I also think the interactions with Renee Good and her wife, Becca Good, make it abundantly clear they were NOT a threat to the agents. Renee Good smiles at Ross and says, "That's fine, Dude. I'm not mad at you." Becca Good says, "Hey, show your face, big boy. That's okay, we don't change our plates every morning, just so you know. It'll be the same plate when you come talk to us later. That's fine. U.S. Citizen, former [effing] veteran, disabled veteran. You wanna come at us? You wanna come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy."

Yeah, they were telling him they weren’t mad and telling him to go get lunch — I’m sure Jon Ross was terrified for his life.

In my opinion, this supports the above observation/theory that he was angry and wanted to control Renee Good.

I leave you with what The Daily Show said on social media today: "This Minneapolis ICE shooting video has become a political Rorschach test: Some people see a peaceful protester getting murdered, and other people are fascists."