Renee Nicole Good was a poet, a mom of three, a spouse. Inside hours of her dying, so far as the federal government was involved, she was a domestic terrorist.
On January 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good by way of her automotive windshield and window in Minneapolis. She appeared to have 4 gunshot wounds, according to The New York Times, which cited a Minneapolis Hearth Division report. Hours after the taking pictures, Division of Homeland Safety secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of “[weaponizing] her vehicle.” President Donald Trump claimed the 37-year-old had “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over” the agent who killed her. Vice President JD Vance known as her dying “a tragedy of her own making.”
Bystander movies confirmed one thing totally different: Good attempting to drive away when the pictures had been fired. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey known as the self-defense narrative “bullshit.”
Regardless of the video proof, conservative media fell in line immediately. Good was “one hundred pc guilty” for her personal dying, in response to Matt Walsh of the Day by day Wire. Megyn Kelly stated it “was her personal doing.” The decision felt unanimous: She deserved it.
However the causes used to justify her dying have gone far past what she did or didn’t do together with her automotive. A lot of it has centered round Good’s identification as a queer girl.
Walsh known as Good a “lesbian agitator.” Ian Miles Cheong, a right-wing commentator with thousands and thousands of followers, known as her a “rug munching leftist.” On Fox Information, Jesse Watters noted that Good “leaves behind a lesbian companion” and highlighted that she had “pronouns in her bio,” seemingly in reference to her Instagram profile.
Good was in a relationship with Becca Good, and the 2 had just lately moved to Minneapolis looking “to make a better life” for themselves, in response to a statement Becca launched after her dying. They left Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, for Canada following Trump’s 2024 election victory earlier than heading again stateside, Xtra reported.
A pair days after Good was killed, footage that seems to be from Ross’ mobile phone leaked to conservative Minnesota outlet Alpha Information. It exhibits the moments earlier than the taking pictures. Good is behind the wheel and calmly tells the individual filming, “I’m not mad at you.” Her companion, Becca, is exterior the automotive, confronting Ross. Becca seems to be defiant and unafraid, telling the individual behind the digital camera, “Go get your self some lunch, huge boy.” As Good tries to drive away, Ross fires a number of pictures. Then, simply earlier than Good’s automotive crashes, a voice is heard saying: “Fucking bitch.”
Whoever leaked that video might have edited the slur out. They did not. And judging by reactions from right-wing influencers, they did not have to.
“There’s an actual sense of disgust with ladies in the best way that conservative media is speaking about these sorts of protests,” says Courtney Hagle, analysis director at Media Issues for America, who has tracked the right-wing response to Good’s dying. “They’re clearly very indignant on the presence of ladies, and particularly white ladies, liberal ladies.” The video, as Hagle places it, “confirmed for them that this isn’t a human being that they need to care about.”
A few of the commentary, together with references to Becca as Good’s “so-called wife” additionally felt like an insidious approach to delegitimize the Items’ relationship.
Chatting with reporters aboard Air Drive One, President Trump repeatedly referred to Becca Good as Renee’s “friend.” “The lady and her buddy had been extremely disrespectful of legislation enforcement,” he stated. Leigh Finke, a Minnesota state legislator and the state’s first overtly trans elected official, says this type of erasure sends a message. “All that they may painting it as is disrespectful lesbian ladies who are usually not obeying males in energy.”
