We all know about Renee Good being killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on 1-8-26. I have an opinion about this, of course, and decided to post here so I can include all my thoughts in one article. I'm using the videos available at this time, 1-9-26, and before all the investigation is even well under way. Almost certainly, more evidence will come to light in the next few days. However, at this time, I think I can be confident in saying that the narrative that she was unnecessarily murdered by Nazi ICE agents is just simply not true. The shooting appears to have been technically justified as Good deliberately accelerated forward at and struck the officer and knew that he was standing in front of her vehicle when she did so. She looked right at him as she shifted into drive and stomped on the gas.
Now, that said; I have some issues. If the fatal shot was from Agent Ross' first shot, from in front of the vehicle, then that one was justified. I don't understand why he continued to fire after he was out of the vehicle path. I don't know of a single agency that authorizes shooting at a moving vehicle or shooting to stop a fleeing suspect, unless that suspect poses an immediate threat to others. It seems to me as if the two extra shots were NOT justified.
The Ross cellphone video shows that he talked both with Good and with her "wife" before the shooting. I think he formed an opinion that they weren't a threat. That might explain why he trusted Good enough to stand in front of her vehicle while the other Agents identified and investigated her. Tactical error there and may result in legal issues in the future as the courts have ruled against "created jeopardy", which is well defined by standing in front of a running vehicle with a suspect in the drivers seat.
Good's family has intimated that she was only there after dropping her child off at school. But, other video shows that she was parked cross the roadway, partially blocking traffic, for several minutes. It has been said that she is a "trained activist" and a "social warrior" and that she was affiliated with ICE Watch, an obstructionist group. Her family disputes this but her actions seem to indicate that these things are true.
So. If Renee Good had not been actively obstructing ICE operations, she would not have had any contact with ICE. If she were only a "legal observer", ICE would never have tried to ID her or even talk with her. Additionally, if she had cooperated with the ICE Agents, provided ID and talked with them about her actions, the worst thing that would have happened is that she might have been arrested for Obstructing; a misdemeanor. If she was acting in concert with ICE Watch, that organization would have attorneys handy to help and she'd have been out of jail before the arresting Agents got their coffee cups filled. If she hadn't chosen to violently escape custody, none of this would have happened.
This tragedy can be directly linked to the stupid decisions on the part of Renee Good, whether she intentionally and deliberately tried to hit Ross with her vehicle or not. If she simply "panicked", as her family claims, and tried to escape, her sudden acceleration, towards an Agent she knew to be standing in front of her car, would at least be criminal negligence.
Even if Good did not intend to strike the agent:Implicit Intent: In many jurisdictions, reckless behavior that demonstrates an "extreme indifference to human life" can serve as a legal substitute for intent to harm.
Some factors influencing my opinion:
Front tires (front wheel drive) spin as she goes forward, indicating that she accelerated sharply; quickly; hard.
Brake lights do not come on as she moves forward. She made no attempt to avoid the Agent or to lessen the impact.
Agent is knocked backwards and to the side as he is struck by the car.
Agent's first shot, as he is being struck, is from directly in front of the vehicle, the bullet enters the windshield on the lower left corner, from in front of the vehicle.
Good had spoken to the agent as he walked around her car, himself taking cell phone video. She was very aware of his presence.
I've watched the currently available videos (there are three that clearly show that she hit the Agent) and what is available at this point supports the Ice Agent's self defense claim. She clearly ran into him and her brake lights never came on once she started forward. When she rammed into him, it knocked him away from the vehicle. It could just as easily have knocked him down in front of it, where he'd have then been run over and either suffered major injuries or death. He had less than a second to realize that she was going to hit him, draw his weapon and try to stop her.
This link is, basically, the primary video that everyone has seen. Everything happens very quickly and this will probably be shown and examined until we all hate to even think of it! https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DQCxKurbs/
This is a slowed down version of the first video. It clearly shows the front tires spinning and Agent Ross being struck by the vehicle, just as he fires his first shot. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1adoB5f5JW/
This one is from a more frontal angle but from far away. I've seen it enhanced but I can't find the zoomed version now. Also, whoever did this one put annoying sounds on it. But, this shows Ross being struck by the vehicle and knocked backwards from the impact. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14SFtLnPFm5/
This is video that Ross himself took and was taking when he was hit. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AfT939Ac1/
The anti-Law Enforcement people are going to continue to paint this as excessive force, no matter what really happened. They never like to let a good crisis go to waste.
What's sad is that the radical left-wing people, those in Congress or other leadership positions and the Main Stream Media, will continue to state, as if it is a known fact, that the ICE Agent deliberately went to work that day, looking for someone to shoot and that ALL ICE agents have that same mindset. I can guarantee that is not the case. He was doing his duty in a job that is very dangerous under normal circumstances. Add these anti-ICE protesters, the dangerous rhetoric surrounding the Left's total disdain for Law Enforcement in general and immigration law in particular and the crowds of paid activists trying to make "something" happen and the hazard of the LE job is increased by orders of magnitude.
There are some questions it would be nice to have the answers to. Some we can never know, because she isn't talking. Did she intend to hit the officer with the vehicle? You can infer that from the fact that she did so, didn't try to evade him. Her tires spin as she accelerates and she never touches her brakes. If she weren't a reckless driver, his standing where he did would have prevented her escape, while the other officers dealt with her. His error was in thinking that she was "normal" and wouldn't try to ram him.
Something I can tell you, absolutely. That ICE agent didn't go to work hoping for a chance to kill someone. None of them did or do. He went out to perform his sworn duties, in a dangerous profession. His mindset would have been that he would be alive to come home to his family at the end of the day. If that meant using deadly force to defend himself or others, well, he'd made that decision long ago.
These guys are hunting the worst of the worst. They are trying to remove murderers, rapists, child traffickers, drug dealers and gun runners from our country. The people that Good was "protecting" are exactly those things. And those people will do ANYthing to keep from being caught and deported. They'll run, hide, fight and kill. They are more motivated to escape than the officers are to catch them.
When people like Good block ICE from proceeding, they are committing a crime. In Montana or Oregon I'd have arrested her for "Obstructing a Peace Officer" I don't know what the federal charge is, but it would be similar. She was a trained activist and knew that she could be subject to arrest. She chose to stomp the gas and elude capture (tires spinning), with no regard for the safety or lives of anyone but herself. Did she know that the Agent was in front of her? Absolutely! She had spoken to him only moments before. He had assumed that she was a normal person and would not hurt anyone. She may have assumed that he would just leap aside and let her escape. There was only a couple of feet between the Agent and her car when she hit the gas. Could he have leaped back and avoided being hit? Maybe. Could she have hit him in such a way as to knock him under the wheels instead of off to the side? Definitely. Did she care? Obviously...not. Her freedom. Her escape; was more important to her than the lives or well being of anyone else in the world at that point. When she tried to hit the Agent with her vehicle, the offense went from misdemeanor to felony. A charge of Felony Assault at least and, more likely, Attempted Murder. When she made the decision that her freedom was more valuable than anyone elses life or safety, she stepped into a pretty dark place and there was no turning back. She either escaped, was killed or went to prison for a long time. When she shifted into drive and stomped the gas, she decided to make those the only choices.
She could have submitted to a minor arrest and dealt with this in the courts. If she'd have just cooperated with the Agents she might even have been released with a warning, given a notice to appear and released on scene or bailed out of jail with a minor arrest that she could proudly have crowed about on the evening news. As a trained activist, she knew these things. I'd bet one of my cats that her organization has lawyers ready and waiting for just such a situation and she knew this as well.
The First Amendment protects our right to peacefully protest. Obstruction is a crime, albeit a minor one. Most police agencies will arrest the obstructer but they'll either be bailed out by their prepared counsel or even cited and released by the agency. Violent attempts to escape are NOT protected by the First Amendment.
It's a tragedy that Renee Good died so stupidly. She died because she made a stupid, dangerous and irrevocable decision. The question of whether she intended to injure or kill the Agent is valid but not germane. She made the choice to escape at all costs. His life or safety were one of those costs that she was willing to risk. As I've already stated, when she shifted into drive and hit the gas, she chose violence over reason. She chose death or serious bodily harm for someone. She just didn't think it would be herself.
No comments:
Post a Comment