On January 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good through her vehicle’s windshield in Minneapolis, igniting a national firestorm as federal officials and media figures launched an aggressive campaign to justify the killing by targeting her identity. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and high-ranking politicians immediately framed the incident as an act of self-defense against a “weaponized” vehicle, emerging video evidence and eyewitness accounts suggest a far more predatory reality.
Contradicting the Official Narrative: Video vs. Rhetoric
Hours after the fatal encounter, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of using her car as a weapon. This narrative was swiftly amplified by President Donald Trump, who claimed Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over” the agent, while Vice President JD Vance characterized her death as “a tragedy of her own making.” However, bystander footage tells a different story, showing Good attempting to drive away as shots were fired. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey dismissed the official self-defense claims as “bullshit,” pointing to the discrepancy between the administration’s statements and the visual record.
The Semantic Warfare of Conservative Media
Despite the conflicting evidence, a coordinated media response sought to cement Good’s culpability. Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh labeled Good a “lesbian agitator” and declared her “100 percent to blame” for the shooting. Megyn Kelly echoed these sentiments, asserting the death was “her own doing.” The campaign quickly shifted from the mechanics of the shooting to an assault on Good’s personal life. Fox News host Jesse Watters highlighted her “pronouns in her bio,” while other commentators, including Ian Miles Cheong, utilized homophobic slurs to delegitimize her presence at the scene.
The Erasure of Identity and Relationship
Renee Good and her partner, Becca Good, had recently relocated to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri, seeking a “better life” following a brief period in Canada after the 2024 election. In the wake of the shooting, federal rhetoric consistently erased their marriage. Speaking from Air Force One, President Trump repeatedly referred to Becca as Renee’s “friend,” claiming the pair were “highly disrespectful of law enforcement.” Leigh Finke, Minnesota’s first openly trans state legislator, noted that this erasure serves a specific political purpose: portraying the victims as “disrespectful lesbian women who are not obeying men in power.”
Leaked Footage and the Devaluation of Life
A cell phone video, reportedly from Ross’s own device, was leaked to the conservative outlet Alpha News. The footage captures the moments preceding the gunfire: Good sits calmly behind the wheel, telling the person filming, “I’m not mad at you,” while Becca confronts the agents outside. As Good attempts to navigate the car away, Ross fires multiple rounds. A voice on the recording is heard shouting a gendered slur just before the vehicle crashes. Courtney Hagle, research director at Media Matters for America, suggests the release of the unedited slur was intentional, serving to confirm for a specific audience that Good was “not a human being that they should care about.”
A Familiar Playbook: Reverse-Engineering Justification
The strategy used to frame Good’s death mirrors the historical treatment of Black victims of police violence. Just as right-wing media fixated on George Floyd’s toxicology reports in 2020 or Trayvon Martin’s clothing in 2012, the narrative surrounding Good has pivoted to her lifestyle to suggest she was not “innocent enough” to merit public mourning. Despite her background as a white, Christian mother of three who was once married to a military veteran—traits often celebrated by the right—her queer identity and political activism turned her into a target for vitriol.
Weaponizing Motherhood and Domesticity
The campaign against Good also extended to her role as a parent. Newsmax’s Carl Higbie labeled her the “worst mother of the year,” suggesting she should have been “at home with her kids” rather than protesting. A Fox News column went further, claiming “organized gangs of wine moms” were utilizing “Antifa tactics” to disrupt federal operations. This rhetoric reinforces a rigid social hierarchy where political dissent is framed as a failure of domestic duty.
The Authoritarian Warning
Reports from the ground indicate that ICE agents are now using Good’s death as a psychological tool to intimidate other protesters. According to The Intercept, agents in Minnesota have told activists they need to “learn” from what happened to her. Protester Patty O’Keefe and another activist named Skye reported being told by federal agents that Good’s death was a direct consequence of “obstructing” their work. As federal enforcement actions continue, the message remains clear. In the words of legislator Leigh Finke: “This is the authoritarian value of Renee’s queer identity. She was the warning.”
