The media’s hastily assembled “Minneapolis mom” sob story is already collapsing under the weight of inconvenient facts. As more details emerge about Renee Nicole Good—the woman shot and killed Wednesday after allegedly using her vehicle as a weapon against federal law enforcement—the portrait looks far less sympathetic and far more radical.
This was not some naïve, peace-loving newcomer caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. By multiple reports, Good was a fiercely anti-Trump activist who had received training as an “ICE Watch warrior,” a designation that strongly suggests confrontation, not confusion. In other words, she likely understood exactly what she was doing when she aggressively engaged federal officers.
Democrats and their left-wing foot soldiers have spent the last 24 hours tying themselves into rhetorical pretzels to shift blame for Good’s death away from her own actions and onto an ICE agent—and, reflexively, the Trump administration. The claim, repeated breathlessly across friendly media outlets, is that Good was nothing more than a confused mom unfamiliar with the area, merely trying to inch her way through traffic when she was unlawfully confronted by federal officers engaged in immigration enforcement.
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Panicked, overwhelmed, and allegedly left with no alternatives, the story goes, she had no choice but to hit the gas and flee in her vehicle. It’s a tidy narrative, emotionally satisfying and politically useful—so long as one ignores the growing pile of facts that directly contradict it.
In truth, Good was not an accidental bystander swept up in events beyond her control. She was there for the express purpose of disrupting federal immigration officials as they carried out their lawful duties. Reports now indicate that Good moved to the area just last year and quickly embedded herself with local anti-ICE activists—connections she reportedly made through her six-year-old son’s charter school.
That school, far from being a neutral educational environment, has been described as an unapologetic ideological incubator that openly puts “social justice first” and prioritizes “involving kids in political and social activism.”
“She was a warrior. She died doing what was right,” a mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same school, told The New York Post at a growing vigil where Good was killed Wednesday.
Good and her “wife,” Rebecca, 40, chose to send Good’s young son to Southside Family Charter School for indoctrination; it’s a K-5 academy that offers “a curriculum rooted in social justice.” A founder, Susie Oppenheim, said of the school once, “Family school is more than a school. It is an ever-growing, evolving, multigenerational community that is unabashedly dedicated to social justice education.”
Translated: Parents chosing to allow their children to be brainwashed into good little commie foot soldiers.
It was through Southside Family Charter School that Good reportedly connected with “ICE Watch,” a loose network of local leftist activists dedicated to interfering with ICE operations in the area. Far from a benign neighborhood-watch outfit, the group’s stated mission is disruption—showing up at enforcement actions to obstruct, harass, and impede federal officers from doing their jobs. Alarmingly, ICE Watch activists have apparently developed a reputation for escalating confrontations, including the use of vehicles as tools of intimidation against law enforcement:
Similar coalitions have cropped up all over the country — with activists using phone apps, whistles and car horns to warn neighborhoods when ICE shows up. ICE Watch activists can also turn confrontational — with numerous instances of activists ramming agents with their cars in the past.
The aforementioned Leesa revealed that Good “was trained against these ICE agents — what to do, what not to do, it’s a very thorough training. To listen to commands, to know your rights, to whistle when you see an ICE agent.” She added, “I know she was doing the right thing. I watched the video plenty of times but I also know in my heart the woman she was, she was doing everything right.”
Not surprisingly, more context is emerging that further undercuts the Left’s carefully curated narrative. Reports indicate that Good and her “wife” decamped to Canada for several months following the 2024 presidential election, only to return later and resettle in the sanctuary city of Minneapolis. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Good spent the hours leading up to Wednesday’s shooting actively harassing and impeding federal law enforcement operations—conduct that aligns far more closely with an agitator than an innocent passerby.
Nobody is celebrating Renee Nicole Good’s death. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the outcome was not inevitable, nor was it unavoidable. She could have—and should have—chosen not to engage ICE agents in an aggressive, confrontational manner. Instead, she allowed her radical politics to override whatever common sense she may have possessed. Once again, an old adage proves painfully relevant: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
