Face-to-Face with Fear

ICE agents and bystanders in Minneapolis after the January 07, 2026 shooting of Renée Good (Photo attribution: Chad Davis)

Even before the screenshot from the ICE agent’s video was added to the “Killing of Renée Good” Wikipedia page, I found myself pausing the footage repeatedly at the moment she spoke to agent Jonathan Ross, mere seconds before he shot her.

Just think of it: this 37-year-old mother of three, a writer and poet, was surrounded by masked, armed, brutally aggressive ICE agents.

As a Russian, I instantly recognize these coercive, bullying power dynamics—and even writing this, my heart starts racing, boiling with anger.

But can you see fear in this woman’s eyes?

Look closely—there isn’t a trace.

And that calm, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you”?

No shouting. No insults. No fear.

I believe that, ultimately, this absolute lack of intimidation is why agent Jonathan Ross opened fire.

Or was she killed for—how Orwellian is that?—“weaponizing her vehicle”? No, her encounter with federal agents had nothing to do with any real threat.

At a time when the intimidation campaign is sweeping the United States, one simply cannot be allowed to project such demonstrative fearlessness—it’s the act of defiance that must be suppressed.

Put plainly, this white American woman was killed for being brave enough to protect immigrant members of her community from ICE—precisely the behavior that Trump calls “very, very disrespectful” to law enforcement.

Fearless means disrespectful. 

How dare you, U.S. citizen?

Guns and Whistles

The Good family moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri, about a year ago. Their former neighbors say that Goods seriously considered moving to Canada after Trump’s re-election.

The family likely had not yet built deep personal connections in the community. However, there is no question about what brought a couple to Portland Avenue the morning of January 7.

“We stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” said Becca Good, wife of Renée.

Renée Good will be remembered for her fearlessness. Her legacy is already taking shape in songs and works of art. And the image of Good looking straight into the ICE agent’s eyes captures her courage. This is not to say it carries ‘Napalm Girl’-like symbolic weight—after all, it’s a video screenshot, not a photograph—but three weeks after the murder of Renée Good, I have come to view this image as both an accurate representation of the spirit of resistance to Trump’s vision of America and deeply inspiring. 

Yes, it inherently reminds us that the government declared Renée Good a ‘domestic terrorist,’ and that her killer has not been held accountable, while ICE agents continue to receive all the praise and support from the Trump administration.

Yet whenever I return to the image, I find light and hope in it. That’s why it’s so easy to see what Becca Good means when she says that her wife “was made of sunshine.”

“Renée sparkled,” said Becca Good. “She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time.”

“Renée lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow,” she added. “Renée was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.”

The Terror

Just two weeks later the terror struck again. On January 24, federal agents killed another 37-year-old American in Minneapolis—just a few miles from where Good was shot.

Like Good, Alex Pretti took to the streets to protect his community and, like her, the man who worked as an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System was falsely labeled a “domestic terrorist.”

Seeing his photos, I can’t shake the thought: “He looked just like me.”

Pretti protested because he “wanted to make a difference,” said his former patient, Navy veteran Marta Crownhart. “He knew that Renée Good was a good person from what he had heard, and that she was killed for no good reason,” she said.

American people did not sign up for this terror (it’s hard to grasp that they are paying for it, but that’s a topic for another discussion). So they go out on the streets, protest, and join ICE watch.

As the crackdown escalates, Minneapolis has turned into a role model of solidarity and resistance for the rest of the country.

Personally, I find the bravery in Renée Good’s eyes empowering. The courage on display in Minneapolis is reassuring.

Hope is there. Can you see it?

*The opinions of contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of We Are One Humanity. Submissions offering differing or alternative views are welcome