Members of the Carbondale community gathered on Friday, Jan. 9 to remember the life of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman from the U.S. who was killed in an altercation with ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis two days prior.

Good was shot three times in the face by ICE agent Jonathan Ross — who was identified by the Minnesota Star Tribune — while in the driver’s seat of her car during an active ICE raid in her neighborhood. Good can be seen on video from multiple angles disrupting the raid with her car while others, including her wife, harass the agents on foot and usher them to leave the area. An officer attempts to open her driver’s side door as Good reverses away from the scene, but she then puts the car in drive and moves forward, which is when Ross unholsters his gun and fires, killing her almost instantly. 

The incident ignited fiery political discourse across the nation as American political figures in the Trump administration claim that her death was justified, while others — like those gathered in Carbondale — say that Good was murdered in cold blood.

Before the vigil, the Daily Egyptian requested an interview with event organizers but were provided with a pre-written statement instead. The organizers asked to remain anonymous. 

“We restlessly await justice for Renee Good,” the statement read. “We seek the dawn of justice, where mothers can hold their children, where neighbors are united regardless of what side of a border they were born on.” 

A little after 9 p.m. at Friendship Plaza, the organizers — many masked — began the vigil through introductory speeches expressing that the gathering was a solemn occasion where the community could share their grief, sorrow, anger, loss and unsure feelings about Good’s death.

The anonymous organizers remembered Good as a wife, mother of three children and award-winning poet. The extent of Good’s involvement in Minneapolis activism is currently unclear, according to reporting by The New York Times.

Organizers recognized that Good was not the first person to be killed amid ICE activity, and that 32 others had been killed since the Trump administration took office. 

“We have seen the fear and pain that ICE is causing all across this country to our neighbors — the death and violence that they have brought upon our communities, but especially immigrant communities and communities of color,” one organizer said.

Organizers called Good a martyr and a hero, but said they believe the Trump regime will paint her as a domestic terrorist who deserved death. According to PBS, there is no consensus among political parties. Republican leaders like Vice President JD Vance have claimed the ICE agents acted in self-defense, while Democratic leaders point to video evidence claiming otherwise. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good’s actions an “act of domestic terrorism” in a press conference. In a guest essay to The New York Times, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey refuted this claim, writing, “I’ve watched multiple videos, from multiple perspectives — it seems clear that Ms. Good, a mother of three, was trying to leave the scene, not attack an agent.”

They finished their introductions with a cry for justice to bring down the “rotten order that allowed for Trump to come to power, for ICE to kill Renee,” and a quote from Mother Jones, a radical union organizer who was buried in southern Illinois; “Honor the dead and fight like hell for the living.” 

Following was a moment of silence for Good and the others who have died in ICE custody.

One person, who introduced themselves only as Mississippi, a community member and medic from Minnesota, read a personal statement. They said that “the people behind this terrorism and tragedy get to sleep safely behind numerous walls of protection paid for by our taxes.”

Mississippi shared their insight into the ways that Minnesota has been under attack by the federal government. They said their sister travels to and from work in fear because of her skin color and carries her passport with her at all times for proof of legal citizenship.

Their sister teaches English as a second language and most of her students are Somali refugees whose families immigrated to Minnesota while under a civil war, now marking 80,000 in population. In addition to preparing for school shootings, Mississippi said their sister lives in fear for her safety and freedom as well as the safety and well being of her students and their families.

Mississippi said that in Minnesota, the Somali refugees, Hispanic residents and people of color in general are afraid to leave their homes. 

“The federal government claims to be targeting criminals, but they are the violence and murderous criminals. Men with guns and masks are stopping people of color to harass and kidnap them,” Mississippi said.

Rumors of ICE agents attempting to enter schools and buses has become so consistent that the public schools have transitioned to online learning with demand that ICE withdraw from the city of Minneapolis. 

“We can hope for justice someday, but we cannot afford to wait for it,” Mississippi said. “Please stand with Minnesota by sending support if you can and organizing with your neighbors. I would say before it’s too late, or that it’s never too late, but frankly the time is now.”

Another speaker, Judy Ashby, read the poem “For Renee Nicole Good” by Amanda Gorman, who is most known for her readings at former President Joe Biden’s inauguration and Super Bowl LV in early 2021.

The vigil was followed by a procession from Friendship Plaza to the Civic Center and back. 

They marched up the streets with banners reading “Justice for Renee Good” and “Melt ICE,”and  handed out colorful pieces of paper reading “Stand For Good,” a play on Good’s last name.

The procession took up the entire width of the Strip in Carbondale. The procession was met by cheers from passersby and patrons of local businesses as a Carbondale Police Department cruiser closely followed the group with its lights on.

The procession stopped at the Carbondale Civic Center to repeat various anti-ICE sentiments before making their way back to Friendship Plaza.

Some attendees said they wanted to know how the student population would respond to Good’s death, others said they were there in solace and support of those who have been affected directly and indirectly.

Nikolas Jonathan, a member of the community, said that he attended the vigil because of all the violence against the people of this country.

“There is power that is being used for hatred. It is important to honor the life lost to the terrible system we live under,” Jonathan said.

Adam Smith, a visitor from out of state, said he felt anger and sorrow toward the news of Good’s death. He heard about the vigil like most other attendees did — through the internet. 

“She was just someone on the street, that could be anybody anywhere at any time,” Smith said. “It’s just scary for everybody in the country right now, no matter what ideology or ethnicity you belong to, but you should be afraid.”

He said the turnout of political gatherings in southern Illinois is always impressive and comforting in times like these. Even in the far reaches of the country, we can still come together and stand up to these things, he said.

Vic Binah, an SIU alumna and member of the community, said fear encourages her activism. She said as a queer Jewish woman she understands the fear of interacting with law enforcement, but “seeing as they are being allowed to kill us for something that they perceive as a slight, that just escalates to being allowed to execute minority folks, being able to execute Jewish folks, being able to execute people of color.” 

Binah said her wife has had family members from Puerto Rico that have been detained without reason as legal citizens, which has incited in them a lot of fear and rage.

“This country’s supposedly built as a land of the free, and it’s just not feeling that way,” Binah said. “This is the first step into fascism, and especially citizens that claim to be proud of this country, claim to love our country and our values are not seeing that, and that’s the scariest thing for me.”

Binah said her mother and father are Marine veterans, and in being a Marine, they were taught to act a certain way, look a certain way, and be a certain way — not just for an image of bravery, but for military training, where you are taught not to take the time to question things. She said she sees that reprogramming leech into the civilian lifestyle, where one takes the government’s official statements at face value instead of forming independent thoughts and opinions.

“We should be able to question our government without fear of being murdered in front of our children or our wives,” Binah said in recognition of Good’s own wife having witnessed her death.

Staff reporter Carmen J. Tapley can be reached at [email protected]. Sports reporter Eli Hoover contributed to this reporting.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article stated that Renee Good was a “well-known activist.” According to The New York Times and various outlets, it is unclear at this time how deep Good was involved in activism outside of the protest that took place the day she died. This article was also updated to correct the identification of a source and clarify a quote. 

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