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ICE shot and killed a 37-year-old American citizen, Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Renee was in her SUV at an ICE enforcement action and was approached by several armed agents who told her to get out of her car. One agent tried to access her SUV by opening the door. She seemingly panicked and tried to drive away. Another agent, who was partially in her vehicle’s path, drew out his gun and lethally shot her twice. The video was recorded by onlookers.
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As usual, the two sides in our country framed the events very differently. Conservatives said that Renee was a protester assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, her motor vehicle. Liberals said that ICE agents shot an innocent mother of three in her car for no reason.
In my view, the reality is pretty straightforward. Renee Nicole Good made a poor decision not to obey directions and an even worse one by trying to drive away. But these should not result in instant capital punishment by an armed federal agent. Agents should have the judgment to know when they are dealing with a violent assailant and when they are dealing with a panicking mother behind the wheel of a car.
Even someone who supports ICE activities in communities – which I do not - should be able to regard this as a terrible tragedy and an error in judgment on the part of the agent that led to devastating consequences. The appropriate statement on the part of Republicans should be to express sadness over the violence and say that the facts will come out with an appropriate investigation.
Unfortunately, the polarization in our country makes nuance impossible. Officials characterized Renee Nicole Good as a ‘deranged leftist trying to run over a federal agent.’ In America today, admitting that your side did something wrong is a sign of weakness and political self-sabotage.
By the way, this applies to both sides. Gavin Newsom is the Democratic frontrunner for 2028 in part because he is demonstrating a willingness to fight fire with fire and be as pugnacious as possible, from slagging Trump online to partisan redistricting to adopting the Bill Clinton insight that “the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.”
That sums up the current dynamic. You must appear strong. You can’t say your side screwed up because you look weak, which is the biggest sin in 2026. Better to double down and try to shape perception or distort reality and play to your tribe.
It’s dehumanizing, which leads to disaster.
To me, the important thing here to remember is the people whose lives have been irrevocably shattered. Renee Nicole Good was a mother of three - three children who will never see their mother again. She wasn’t a member of some imagined tribe or a participant in an ideological conflict so much as a living, breathing human being, a wife and mother. She should be alive today. Instead her life was cut short in tragic fashion and turned into an emblem of a conflict that I fear will only grow in intensity and claim more victims in the days ahead. Our shared humanity is the only path out.
To turn down the temperature in our country, check out Forward which is trying to reduce polarization. To reduce your screen time, which can contribute to polarization in our own lives, check out Noble Mobile. We’re all still people at the end of the day.
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