The shooting of Renée Good on January 7th of 2026 was a tragedy on multiple fronts. Beyond the death of a 37 year old mother of three, it was also a prime example of the brutal and escalatory nature of ICE’s conduct in Minnesota over the past few weeks. Lastly, and eerily similar to the reactions to the Charlie Kirk shooting, it laid bare both the polarized state of the US as well as see the propaganda outrage machine on the far right brought out in full force.

The tragedy

Let’s start with the tragedy part. Summarized. Renée was shot in her car by ICE officer Jonathan Ross when she attempted to drive away in her car after being agressively approached by other ICE agents. Jonathan, standing in front and to the left of the car pulled out his handgun as she started driving away, firing three bullets from close range into the vehicle, striking Renée in the head, ultimately killing her. DHS/Ross claim he shot in self-defense, out of fear of being run over.

The outrage

Reaction to multiple video’s of the incident coming online was swift. In general, and certainly on the left, events were described as a tragedy, reactions called for tensions to ease, but also contained anger at how a rather straightforward encounter with law-enforcement could escalate into the deadly shooting of a US citizen, directed at both Ross and ICE and their operation at large. General consensus is that Renée was not in fact trying to run Jonathan over but tried to drive away or flee the scene.

On the far right the reaction was opposite, predictably. But what stood out to me was the viciousness of the messaging. Sentiments shared by Trump, Vance, Noem, and echoed among the big rightwing accounts, were that she was a “lunatic“, “deranged leftist”, who “tried to kill an ICE officer”, a “domestic terrorist using her car as a deadly weapon“, in a “tragedy of her own making”. A concerted effort to drum out any empathy for a live lost and replace it with a party-line message of we are right.

The facts

What stands out immediately is how the rightwing commentary largely does not match what can be clearly seen in the video. While it appears Renée, her wife, and others were there to protest ICE, she posed no direct threat and acted in a calm manner. It is clear more than one car passes her car, which is in the road, and she can be clearly seen waving cars by. Captured on Ross’s cellphone footage, she can be seen calm and friendly, telling him “That’s fine dude, I’m not mad at you“. Importantly, the car is already in reverse at this moment in time.

Two ICE agents then exit another ICE vehicle, with one of them approaching the driver’s side door. In the turning point of the situation, he approaches the car door and start agressively janking it while telling Renée, “Get out the car. Get out of the car. Get out the fucking car“.

At this moment Renée, either panicking from the officer janking her door or thinking of driving away, reverses the car for a two point turn, turns the wheel to the right, and starts driving forward. Ross, standing on the front left of the car, pulls his gun and shoot three times as the car passes him.

While the car keeps moving until it hits another parked car on the side of the road, Ross can be heard saying “fucking bitch“…. Importantly, He is not “run over” and it is not “a miracle he survived“. The car at best seems to have slightly brushed him. He did not have to “recover in a hospital”. Instead of immediately approaching the vehicle and check on Good, ICE restricts access to the car and Renée, even to a man identifying himself as a physician.

What I think

In my opinion, this shooting was completely unnecessary, owed in large part to how ICE handled the situation. It would have been more ambiguous as an isolated incident, but from all the reporting we are seeing, that is not the case. Even if she was there to protest, was part of some organisation tracking ICE, and even if she meant to obstruct the ICE traffic at the scene, is that enough reason to be shot in the face? I think not.

Law enforcement by nature need to be masters of de-escalation, especially in situation where tempers and emotions run high. Yet with ICE it seems to be the exact opposite. We see example after example captured on video of ICE agents escalating situations, provoking protesters, misusing their authority, or finding inappropriate and disproportionate ways of dealing with situations they find themselves in. Are the protesters annoying for them? Sure, but law enforcement is supposed to offer proportionate responses. You know who agrees with that? Tom Fitton from Judicial Watch, who wrote:

“Look I’m sure it was scary for everyone involved…but we pay these police officers to keep their heads about them and not panic, and not shoot.”

Would it surprise you to learn this was not said with regards to Renée Good but to Ashli Babbitt’s shooting in the Capitol on Jan 6th?

Perhaps most striking is the blatant lies spread by the president and others, including many officials. Ross wasn’t run over or hospitalized as they told you. Nor was Renée being agressive at any time. You have to wonder why these lies are necessary. Because it feels like stating that this was a tragedy but that Ross shot in self-defense would have been enough. We would disagree about that interpretation, but at least the facts would have been clear. Why the lies?

The hypocrisy

Lastly, and like with many major moments nowadays, the shooting also gives us another perfect example of the hypocrisy of saying one thing when it happens to your side, versus the opposite when it happens to the other. When Ashli Babbitt was shot by capitol police during the January 6th 2021 insurrection at the capitol, the response on the right was outrage. “Murder“, of an “innocent and peaceful protester“. Renée Good? Well she deserved it.

When Charlie Kirk was shot we saw right wing social media influencers calling the left the party of murder and hate, demanding civil war type responses against the rabid left. Meanwhile left wing influencers by and large, though not mournful of his death, called for people to remain calm, the shotting a tragedy, and that no one deserves to be shot for their believes.

There is no reverse version of this. Keep in mind that I am talking strictly about the larger influencers and accounts, not single small anonymous ones. It is trivial and pointless to look for the most outrageous opinions on either side. I am calling out the pattern, not individuals.