Washington (United States) (AFP) – Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by a US immigration agent on Wednesday in the midwestern city of Minneapolis, was an “extremely compassionate” person, her mother told the Minnesota Star-Tribune newspaper. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being,” Donna Ganger told the newspaper.
The 37-year-old — a poet and a mother to three children — was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while she was behind the wheel of her car. The Trump administration was quick to claim her death was an act of self-defense, but local authorities and witnesses dispute that account — and widely shared video evidence has called into question the officer’s use of deadly force.
In 2020, Good earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Old Dominion University in Virginia, the school said in a statement honoring her Wednesday. “May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love, and peace. My hope is for compassion, healing, and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history,” university president Brian O. Hemphill said.
Good was a published poet who was awarded the Academy of American Poets 2020 poetry prize while at her university. In a biography for the award, she was described as loving movie marathons and making “messy art with her daughter and two sons.” US media report that her private Instagram account bio described her as a “Poet and writer and wife and mom and shitty guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN” and had an emoji of a rainbow LGBTQ+ flag.
Her children were from her first two marriages and at the time of her death, she was married to a woman, who she lived with in Minneapolis where they were raising her youngest child, a six-year-old boy. More than $800,000 has been raised to support her surviving family. Despite accusations from the Trump administration that she was endangering the lives of federal immigration agents, Good’s mother told the Minnesota Star-Tribune that she was not taking part in any action against ICE. Her first husband, who declined to be identified, told US media that Good was a devoted Christian and was not an activist.
© 2024 AFP
