Arlington, VA—The citizens of the Arlington community held a vigil for victims abducted and slain by federal Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officers over the last 11 months. Community leaders, law enforcement, and clergy gathered with the community outside Arlington Courthouse to condemn the violence and fear ICE was spreading across Virginia, targeting immigrants and citizens alike. Citizens also recognized the spirit of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis mother of three killed on Wednesday, January 7, by ICE officer Jonathan Ross who shot her thrice in the face at virtually point-blank range during a botched traffic stop.
We of Action (WofA) organized the vigil with only a few days notice to highlight that ICE actions were victimizing Virginians as well as most other states. Speakers from Arlington took part in the vigil, condemning ICE tactics for their brutality as well as its lawless strategy for its neglect of due process. Similar actions and protests against ICE were held at over a 1000 locations across the country.
Chris Adair, Communications and Social Media Director for WofA, read a written statement from Becca Good, Good’s wife.
On the steps of the stoop from which community leaders spoke, 34 pairs of shoes were neatly laid facing out with the names of the victims written in chalk next to each pair. Several members of We of Action slowly read the names—many of which were those of the families of hispanic descent—their emotion apparent in their voices as they read them. Other names were indicative of Asian and Middle Eastern descent.
A line of activists from the Bridge Brigade, a grassroots group that has been hanging giant messages from local bridges in opposition to Trump’s authoritarian policies, held up giant numbers with a phone number to call for help if ICE agents stoped neighbors. The block signs listed “202-335-1183.”
Hundreds watched and held signs denouncing the escalation of violence from ICE actions across the country. Several young children also stood in front of the adults holding small signs reading “Be Kind” and “Don’t Kill,” as their mother stood silently behind them.
ICE Tactics In Minneapolis Mimic Tyrannical Death Squads
Video caught from at least three different angles depicted the chaotic scene between ICE officers, Good, and another woman thought to be Good’s wife. At this moment Good was appearing to back up to get out of the way of ICE vehicles in the narrow snow covered residential street.
While sirens blared, masking verbal ICE commands from four agents present, an unidentified agent pulled at her door telling her to get out. Agent Ross stood at an oblique left position of the driver side. He recorded Good sitting in her car and her car license plate. Switching his phone from his right hand to his left, Ross then pulled his weapon as Good turned her wheel right and away from Ross, while saying “I’m not mad at you.” Seconds after that he fatally shot her through her windshield in the face. Now mortally wounded and as her car continued rolling forward, he cursed at her, “F*cking B*tch” as her car rolled forward, coming to rest near another car.
The lurid clips quickly spread through social media, drawing outcry and condemnation against ICE and Ross from across the country for an obviously avoidable and senseless killing of an unarmed Minneapolis resident.
The narrative from the Trump administration was typically blunt and without credible substance, accusing Good, without evidence, of being a “domestic terrorist,” “a radical leftist,” and an “agitator,” and trying to run down an ICE agent doing his duty. Under this standard, anyone that happened to be driving adjacent to or caught up in any unannounced ICE operation could be labeled a domestic terrorist threat. The characterization of Good was a similar theme in response by Trump and his subordinate officials to other shootings, such as Charlie Kirk, and pronounced before an investigation was completed.
“We had whistles. They had guns.”
Good’s wife, Becca Good, spoke out about her wife’s killing, in a published a statement describing Good as a person always helping others and joyful about life. “Renee 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,” Becca Good said.
“She literally sparkled,” Becca Good said. “I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time.”
Of the incident, she said “We had whistles. They had guns.”
Arlington Officials And Police Leadership Calls ICE Actions Rogue And Illegal
Arlington Sheriff Jose Quiroz, a Marine Corps Veteran who has also served in the Arlington sheriff’s office for several decades, remarked, he was saddened by ICE violence and said it affected many families across the county. A first generation American, whose parents immigrated from Honduras, he said he was the only hispanic sheriff the 134 sheriffs serving in Virginia.
“As a sheriff, I am committed to keeping Arlington safe. When ICE asked me help them detain undocumented immigrants, I refused, he said as the assembled citizens cheered. “I refuse unless they provide me with a legal document, a warrant obtained by a judicial officer. All people in America have a right to due process,” he said. The citizens again cheered.
Parisa Deghani Tafti, the Virginia Commonwealth’s chief prosecutor for Arlington County and Falls Church, said, “As the Chief law enforcement officer of this community, I’m here to tell you ICE and Border Control have zero authority to force entry into your cars or into your homes without identifying themselves, without a warrant, or without exigent circumstances.”
Taffi spoke about Renee Good as a mother and an American citizen killed because of “confusing” ICE instructions and a chaotic ICE action escalated needlessly.
“One pulled at her door, another walked behind her car, another shouted confusing instructions at her.”
She described the actions of Agents Ross as an execution. “The agent who shot her put himself in front of her car while he was filming with his right hand. Then as she tried to turn away from him and drive away, he didn’t feel a sense of emergency and drop his phone. He apparently switched his phone from his right to his left hand and used his right hand to draw his gun and shot her three times in the face.”
“Now federal officials want to gaslight us all by calling her a radical leftist, an agitator, or a domestic terrorist.”
”We know the truth. We saw the videos. It was an execution,” she said.
Reverend DeLishia Davis said Renee Good was a mother who had just dropped off her child at school. She should be here today. She asked the citizens to say, ‘I am Renee Good’ and they repeated it several times. By doing so, Reverend Davis was asking citizens to put their feet in the empty shoes laid on the steps before them. She was restoring humanity to Good.
“We are here to honor Renee Good and all of our community members that have been stolen from us without due process. And more than anything, we are here to make sure our most vulnerable, our babies know what we, their elders are doing when harm is present.”
