cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/18847
Kalle Benalie
ICTElected Native officials, business owners and organizers are reacting to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that left one woman dead on Jan. 7.
Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a raid in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death ignited a large crowd of protestors and a call to stop ICE’s operations and the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Jonathan Juarez, Pueblos of Laguna and Isleta, spoke at a vigil for Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 as an organizer from the Southwest Solidarity Network, which partnered with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Juarez said it was important for him to be there to show support from those in Albuquerque to Minneapolis but also as an Indigenous person whose history is connected to colonial violence from the U.S. government like boarding schools.
Signs people used at the vigil for Renee Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on the evening of Jan. 8. (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT)
“I would say as Indigenous people, we need to acknowledge that migration is a right, and it is something that has been practiced here on these lands long before the United States ever had any established borders,” Juarez said. “And more broadly looking at the patterns of fascism throughout history, we know that this is what the beginning stages of every fascist empire regime looked like. We need to be sounding the alarms and telling people today, it is immigrants and it is trans people, and it is these marginalized people, tomorrow it could be anybody.”
He added the turnout for the vigil was “a really beautiful message of solidarity.”
“It was great, especially considering it was snowing and sleeting and hailing, and it was that freezing wind chill,” Juarez said.
A vigil table for Renee Good, who was killed on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. A crowd of people attended the event to demand justice and end ICE raids in front of the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 . (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT)
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, responded on X about Good.
“The tragic killing of an American citizen in Minnesota has left her children without a parent. Instead of spreading misinformation or stoking hate, we need a full, transparent, independent investigation to get the facts, ensure accountability, and prevent this kind of heartbreak from happening in communities anywhere in our country,” Davids said.
Senator Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, from Oklahoma released a video on X explaining how the ICE agent responded to Good’s alleged lethal force with lethal force.
“It’s unfortunate but I support DHS and what they had to do to keep their men and women safe to bring federal fugitives to justice,” he said. “It should have never taken place because those people should have never been out there to begin with. We should be supporting our law enforcement.”
The president of Ho-Chunk Nation, which is east of Minnesota, Jon Greendeer, released a statement on Facebook. He asked for justice for Good and her family, as well as saying ICE is not welcome on Ho-Chunk land in Wisconsin.
“I hold a position which requires me to work with government and find solutions. I will not be found sitting anywhere with ICE at the table. When my family is threatened like so many have been by them, don’t expect me to preserve any type presidential decorum. I’ll be with our Bears and Warriors,” Greendeer said.
In North Dakota, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear issued a statement Friday, Jan. 9, addressing public safety concerns. He said his staff is working on establishing a “Know Your Rights” phone line and advised “all First Nations people to carry your tribal information as a practical measure.”
“Any ICE presence or activity within our lands is not authorized, not welcome, and will be addressed,” Sitting Bear said in the statement. “Unauthorized personnel will be escorted off our lands.”
The Owamni restaurant, owned by Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman, said they are donating 10 percent of all sales on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 to Good’s family. Owamni is located in Minneapolis.
“Sending support for her family during this time of grief feels like the right thing to do. We hold Renee in our hearts and send love, strength, and calm to her family for their horrific unnecessary loss,” the statement said.
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