The images and captions in this article were added by the editorial team, the author is not responsible, or even aware of them. -Ed

Are we really doing this again? I thought I was done with this. After three articles ranting into the aether about how systemic incompetence and societal stupidity conspire to produce truly awful situations I had hoped to put my pen down and retire to writing pulp sci-fi. But no. Like Michael Corleone, you just keep pulling me back in, don’t ya?

This is an opinion piece, but I will, as always, try very hard to keep things to the known facts. This incident is not even 24 hours old, so some of my facts will likely be correctable later. Shall we get on with it?

Here’s a Sentence You Rarely Hear: Let’s go to Minneapolis!*

On January 7, 2026, an American Law Enforcement official opened fire on a fleeing vehicle, ultimately killing its operator, Renee Good. American Law Enforcement officials shoot about 2,000 people every year and kill about 1100 or so**. To their credit, the vast majority of those shot are in the act of doing something illegal and/or horribly dangerous. I can’t find hard numbers, but generally speaking, 99+% of these shooting are cleared of any official wrongdoing***.

So, what about this one? Why is the nation up in arms about a thing that happens 3-5 times a day in the US? Well, buckle up, because this is going to irritate you. And it does not matter who “you” are. I am pretty sure everyone is going to hate me by the end of this article because once again, there were so, so, many exit ramps off the highway of stupidity that brought us all here.

* I kid. It’s a lovely city with incredible food and beer. If you don’t like the cold and ICE, stick to summer, though.
** According to the FBI.
*** FBI, again. Only .2-.5% of officer involved shootings result in a criminal charge. Take what you will from that.

Missed Opportunity: Is This Really What We are Doing?

On January 6th, the Department of Homeland Security announced the largest immigration and enforcement operation in our nations’ history. Their target of choice? That hotbed of illegal immigration, crime, and rampant anti-American activity: Minneapolis!

Wait.

Minneapolis? Why in the heck were we dropping 2,000 federal agents on the crown jewel of the American Upper Midwest?

DHS publicly described the deployment as its largest immigration enforcement operation ever, sending roughly 2,000 agents (including ICE, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection) to the beautiful Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota. The stated operational focus was alleged immigration violations and fraud cases. Notably some very clickable stories tied to welfare and pandemic-era abuse involving federal programs and Somali residents. That’s a mouthful, huh? Basically, the media picked up on some shenanigans tied to Somali day care centers and federal funds*, and the feds decided that anything was better than releasing the Epstein files**.

For whatever reason, the feds decided the best way to handle this emerging travesty (from five years ago) was to drop 2,000 armed agents into an American city with little to no preparation, warning, or cooperation with local authorities. This. Was. Stupid.

It was stupid when they tried it on smaller scales in other cities, and it was stupid in this case. There is no way a thinking, reasoning, human could believe that this operation would NOT have at least one catastrophic incident. The law of probability demands it. The current track record of these immigration operations is not great, either. They are unpopular, poorly executed, largely unsuccessful, and above all: DANGEROUS. In this case, THEY COULD NOT EVEN GET THROUGH THE FIRST 24 HOURS WITHOUT KILLING AN UNARMED WOMAN.

The echoes of fascism and police state procedure are clear and strong enough to make any red-blooded freedom-loving person view these raids with an extremely squinty eye or three. When the federal government thinks Posse Commitatus is an obstacle to be circumvented, we are all in danger. So right off the bat, a more measured, logical, and tactical approach to the illegal immigration issue could have made this whole article irrelevant.

We did not get a measured or logical approach. We got an invasion.

* Legitimate shenanigans, too. There was a real issue.

**Is that an unfair characterization? Maybe. I stopped caring. They do seem to be fishing for anything else to talk about, though.

Second Missed Opportunity: Hate the Cop, Obey the Law

Our victim in this tragic story is a woman named Renee Good. Ms. Good was not an illegal immigrant. Heck, she was not an immigrant at all. She was a poet and a mother of three from Colorado. So how did she end up shot?

This is the part that gets a little dicey. Just stay with me, okay?

In Protest of/or Obstruction

According to all accounts, the real trouble began with Ms. Good parked sideways across the road, blocking at least one lane and part of the other on Portland Ave. during an active ICE operation. There are other bystanders behind her, indicating that her vehicle was stationary for more than a few seconds, at least. On it’s face, it looks like a deliberate attempt to slow down or obstruct a convoy of ICE vehicles is being made.

Currently available videos do not tell us how or why she is parked thus. The videos do tell us pretty much everything we need to know about the shooting, though.

What do we see? A gray SUV pulls around Ms. Good’s car (clearly indicating that she was NOT obstructing travel despite blocking one whole lane and some of the other). We see her hand wave from her driver-side window, and it has been postulated that she was telling the next vehicle in the ICE convoy to go around her. A silver pick-up truck stops, and a uniformed agent gets out. The camera pans over and we can see that another large SUV is in front of her.

Two agents approach, and at least one orders her to get out of the vehicle.

Let’s pause the tape here.

At this point, there are a lot of places where we can address some very poor decisions. First, Ms. Good may not have had any business blocking that lane. The (always reliable) federal government is asserting that she was virulently anti-ICE, and that her behavior was a deliberate act of civil disobedience and obstruction. At this point in time, we cannot say that this is not true, but I certainly can’t corroborate that claim at time of writing. There are photos of her passenger, immediately prior, interacting with agents with her vehicle NOT blocking traffic, however.

At some point between this picture and the shooting, that car got sideways across the lane and likely caused the whole convoy to slow to a crawl. I cannot find any information on how that occurred, and that piece of information feels like it might be important.

As of this writing, there is a real, non-zero chance that Ms. Good or her passenger were attempting to obstruct the ICE operation in some small  way. A minor and petty act in defiance of tyranny, perhaps? We really cannot say, but it is not implausible and let’s be serious, even likely considering the totality of what was occurring at the time. I will reserve judgement on this until more data emerges, but right now her behavior is walking and quacking in a very duck-like manner.

If true, then this was absolutely a place where a wiser soul might have made a better choice. There is a difference between sitting in at a diner or refusing to sign a draft card and blocking federal agents while they are doing their jobs.

Being angry at Injustice Does Not Grant Immunity.

In any event, two men exit the pickup truck with at least one more from the SUV blocking her in. “Get out of the fucking car,” is clearly audible. That is a lawful (if rude) command from a law enforcement agent, folks. Hate it all you like, but LEOs can detain you for any damn reason they want. If they do not follow the rules of probable cause and uphold your civil rights, you can get them in plenty of trouble and maybe even win yourself a nice civil suit. But that will all happen after you are detained. Bottom line: If they order you out of the car, you have to get out of the car. Call your lawyer, call your mom, call the midwife if you think it will help. But once they give you a lawful order, you are expected to follow it*.

Some have argued that the agents in question failed to correctly identify themselves, thus precluding Ms. Good from this obligation. Believe it or not, no federal or state law requires them to identify in any specific manner. To have legal merit, a claim of uncertainty or ignorance of the official’s status has to pass the “reasonable person” test.

I posit that if a man in an ICE uniform steps out of a vehicle sporting a lightbar amongst other similar vehicles disgorging similar individuals in a known caravan of ICE vehicles engaged in a publicly recognized ICE operation while multiple people film the entire interaction, then a reasonable person could expect that they were dealing with federal agents. As far as the law of this great nation is concerned, Ms. Wood had only one legal option at that moment, and that was to get out of her car.

If You are Going to Disobey the Feds, Don’t use Your Car to do it.

Even if we excuse Ms. Wood for her imperfect understanding of her legal obligations, what she does next takes her behavior from  ‘well-intentioned civil disobedience’ to ‘motor vehicle assault’ or at least, ‘reckless endangerment.’**

* Of which, “get out of the fucking car” is one.

** Don’t @ me, lawyers. She made a choice, here.

When the agent grabs the door handle and tries to open it. Ms. Good Immediately puts her car in reverse (You see the reverse lights come on. She moved the shifter.) and backs up perhaps two feet. Then she puts it in drive and tries to pull away with no small quantity of speed while agents are still in physical contact with the vehicle.

I know we are all angry and sad about what happens next, but this was stupid. There is no version of reality where this choice, and it was a choice, makes any sense at all. She was about to be detained, and maybe even arrested on a misdemeanor. She was going to get yelled at and handcuffed and made to endure a lot of bullshit over this situation. We can have a long discussion about how unfair that is and believe me I am here for it. But nobody had to die. Not a single weapon was drawn before her car started to move.

But move it did. And draw they did.

Missed Opportunity: Train Your Animals Better

Once the car lurched forward, the agent in front of the vehicle draws and opens fire. The car comes extremely close to running him over. You will hear people talk about the fact that the wheels were clearly turned away, and that any sane human with eyes and a brain can see that she was trying to get away. No one is debating that here. Ms. Good was attempting to flee, and she had no intention of hurting anyone. Furthermore, while certainly a close call, she began from a dead stop, and the agent was able to avoid being hit. He didn’t fall, he didn’t stumble, and no part of him other than the palm of one hand* touched the car.

He still fired three times, striking Ms. Good in the head.

*All that can be seen in the video.

Pause. Breathe.

Before we discuss the agent’s conduct, we have to establish a sense of fairness. The officer in front of the car could not reasonably be expected to see the direction of the wheels  from where he was standing when the car started moving. Once the car started moving, he may have legitimately believed he was about to be run over. The video shows that he does not draw his weapon until the car starts coming forward. This is important, because he did not pull his weapon when the car was moving away from him, only when it comes forward and toward him.

The time between the car coming forward and his first shot is just a hair over one second. The average time from holster to first round on target for a trained person drawing from a holster is about 1.5 seconds. He had one second plus some change to recognize a threat, draw, and fire while under stress.

In many jurisdictions, this could be considered a “clean” shoot. We are going to have to deal with that reality like adults if we want to learn anything from this incident. The agent is going to claim, “fear of his life” and it is not impossible that it will stick. His reaction and performance were within normal ranges for anyone in this situation.

Except…

There are Rules for This

ICE and the DOJ have policies for exactly this situation. Imagine that. It’s like the agencies know this is a thing that might happen and they have procedures for it. What procedures? So glad you asked!

From the official ICE “Firearms and Use of Force Handbook, 2021” we get this little nugget:

There is no room for debate on this one. The agent was clearly in defiance of official department policy. There was no credible threat to anyone else, the suspect (what was she even suspected of, anyway?) was unarmed and fleeing.

And from their official guidance memo on this topic specifically:

“It should be recognized that a 1/2 ounce (200 grain) bullet is unlikely to stop a 4,000 pound moving vehicle, and if the driver of the approaching vehicle is disabled by a bullet, the vehicle will become a totally unguided threat. Obviously, shooting at a moving vehicle can pose a risk to bystanders including other agents.”

“There is little doubt that the safest course for an agent faced with an oncoming vehicle is to get out of the way of the vehicle.”

The agent was supposed to save his own ass and get out of the way. That actually sounds like a great idea, too! Forget the immigrant trying to run away from you and protect yourself. Don’t make it worse by turning a speeding vehicle into an unguided missile. These are solid policies and they were definitely his instructions. But he chose another path. And much like Ms. Good’s choice to try and drive away, that officer made a choice to kill Ms. Good.

Here’s why I say that:

That’s the third shot being fired directly into Ms. Good’s head THROUGH THE SIDE WINDOW. Sorry to put it right there, but I’ve had to watch this video several dozen times to get through this. Now you can experience my horror.

How much danger is the agent in right now? How much of a threat is the car? WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT POLCIY FOR THIS EXACT SCENARIO*?

For the record, I can screenshot every round fired, or you can trust me when I say that only the first round was fired while the agent was in front of the vehicle** and in any danger at all. By the second shot, he was off to the side. That third shot? That’s murder.

The agent probably disagrees with that assessment. And that is the crux of the issue up to this point. A fundamental agreement we have with the people we arm and give arrest powers to is that they will be well trained and follow policy. This agent, through some combination of fear, incompetence, and malice, failed his department, his community, and his humanity on every possible level.

For the record, the vehicle then accelerated wildly and crashed into a parked car with enough force to total them both… exactly the reason departmental policy forbids shooting into fleeing cars.

* Hint: DON’T SHOOT INTO MOVING CARS.

** Arguably. The other agent is blocking the view, but there is a strong chance he was already off-line and out of the way.

Missed Opportunity Four: Put the Shovel Down

This whole thing has been awful to write. And I wish so badly that I was done. But… goddammit… there is more.

The entire sordid affair occurred in public, in front of witness and quite a few cell phone cameras. As soon as the careening death-missile launched by a bloodthirsty idiot finished its indiscriminate flight by smashing into a parked car, our stalwart ICE commandoes immediately rushed to the vehicle and rendered aid to all those hurt and… oh wait. That’s not it at all. They posted a perimeter and did not do a damn thing for anyone.

That’s horrible, right? The woman might have been alive, desperately needing help. Her passenger could be injured by the car crash ICE caused when they violated their own policy.

Fun fact: In all officer-involved shootings, the agency has and obligation to render aid to all injured parties right away. Let’s check that policy book again!

Not a single federal agent (all trained in first aid*) approaches the vehicle to render aid. It took fifteen minutes for an ambulance to arrive, and no help was ever attempted that can be found on the numerous videos. An 8-minute video from a neighbors porch shows ICE agents milling around the car with the door open and Ms. Good’s body still inside. Sirens wail in the background.

There was a clear duty to render aid, and it did not happen. That’s awful, and oh my dear sweet deity of choice it still gets worse.

Failure to Act is One Thing. Actively Preventing Action is Another!

A witness, claiming to be a physician, tries to go help within seconds of the crash. He is prevented from approaching the car by uniformed agents. In fact, this person is told sharply to ‘relax’ and stay back. “I’m a physician,**” the man shouts. The reply from ICE: “I don’t care.”

* All armed federal officers are required to have basic lifesaving / first-aid / trauma-response training (often CPR, hemorrhage control, or equivalent)

** Verbatim.

And just for fun, this went down in Minnessota, so the following applies to pretty much everyone:

Not that it will ever stick to the Feds, but it bears noting for no other reason than it illustrates how any decent human is expected to act.

My father always said that when you find yourself in a hole, the smartest thing you can do is put the shovel down. ICE never got this memo from my old man, I guess. Every step of the way, they took this situation from dumb, to bad, to catastrophic. They could have taken an off ramp any time, instead, they just stepped on the gas.

In Conclusion:

The pattern repeats itself. I am getting used to that, I suppose. People often make bad decisions when stressed or angry. There were a lot of angry and stressed people on Portland Ave that day. So, I concede there is an element of unfairness to what I am doing here. To be the armchair quarterback is to embrace the hypocrisy of hindsight.

But the part of the pattern that is becoming increasingly difficult to work with is the level of incompetence and prejudice displayed by some of our more prominent law enforcement agencies. We can argue the political and procedural challenges of immigration like adults. We can disagree on what immigration policy should and should not be. That is exactly how the republic is supposed to work, after all. We should not have to worry about getting kidnapped, shot, or otherwise violated by masked gunmen, though. Even if you and I disagree on the policy, I’m pretty sure that we can agree that federal agents should be well-trained, well-disciplined professionals and not marauding goons. I don’t think I’m in a crazy place, here*.

From stem to stern, every single step of this operation has been plagued with a kind of swaggering incompetence that should enrage everyone. If you support the operation, you should be horrified at just how badly it is going. It took less than a full day to get an unarmed, non-immigrant, non-criminal killed in direct violation of department policy. ICE managed to skip all the foreplay and get right to ‘government-sanctioned murder’ like they were speedrunning Super Mario Brothers. It’s so stupid it almost has to be deliberate. Where are we recruiting these goons from?

Do we really need Neil Young to write a song about sending armed federal forces into unfamiliar and unreceptive territory… again**? The whole operation feels aimless and pointless. Anyone with Google, two ounces of social awareness, and an ear for historical context could have told ICE that catastrophe under these conditions is mathematically inevitable.

So, ICE screwed up, but what about the others? If you, in your righteous fervor, oppose the booted foot of fascism as you see it descend upon your neighborhood, take a second and think about what victory looks like in this case. I promise you; Ms. Good’s death is not what victory looks like. Brown v. Board of Ed is what victory looks like. Rasul v. Bush*** is what victory looks like. Whether or not Ms. Good deliberately interfered with ICE, the choices she made did very little to make things better for anyone. She should not have had to die either way.

I guess what I’m saying is that when it’s time to hop on Rosinante and tilt against our chosen windmills, it would not kill us to do so with reasonable victory conditions and maybe some thought for the consequences of our actions. Could we please just start being smarter and see how that goes?

Hey… that applies to the feds, too! I suppose it probably applies to everybody.

* Am I?

** I really hated the last one.

*** It made it illegal for the US to black-bag people to Gitmo and never let them challenge it.