“I’M NOT GOING TO LIE, Y’ALL. I’m here to grieve, but I’m also mad as hell.”
That’s how one Stockton resident at a candlelight vigil summed up his reaction to the Jan. 7 killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
The resident, Isaiah Merriweather, was just one of roughly 100 people who gathered Thursday evening on Victory Park’s eastern edge in the chilly air to honor Good: a U.S. citizen whom ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot in the head Wednesday as she was turning her SUV away from another officer who was trying to haul open the driver’s side door.
Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration have claimed Ross shot Good because she ran into him with her car. Trump claimed on Truth Social that Good had “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over” the officer later identified as Ross, multiple outlets reported. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Good’s actions as “domestic terrorism.”
Video of the killing shows Good’s vehicle stopped across part of a road, waving her arm as if telling other cars to pass. Suddenly a grey truck pulls up, and two ICE officers get out and walk toward the car. One starts pulling on the driver’s side door, saying, “get out of the f—ing car.”
Meanwhile, another ICE officer later identified as Ross steps in front of the car from the passenger’s side. The wheels of Good’s car slowly reverse, then pull forward, slightly turning. The headlight appears to briefly make contact with Ross, according to a CNN analysis of footage of the killing.
As Ross steps aside, he draws his pistol and fires three times, footage shows — including twice when he was out of the car’s path, CNN found.
Former DA: ‘They were culpable’
“The officer is saying that ‘she came, lunged toward me.’ Well, he was standing in front of the vehicle, which is probably in violation of most of his training,” former San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar told Stocktonia.
She said that none of the officers appeared to be using any known de-escalation techniques.
“As a matter of fact, they were culpable in escalating the situation by their tactics,” Verber Salazar said.
At Thursday’s vigil, Stocktonians’ reactions ranged from hopeful, to wary, to outraged.
One young community activist, who declined to be named out of concern for his safety, led a prayer for Good.
“We will live in a world where people do not die from authoritarian violence,” he said. “You might not be able to imagine how yet, but you can believe in it. And that’s always the first step.”
Luis Magaña, a labor organizer and advocate for farmworkers, urged the gathered crowd to remember that, although the killing didn’t happen in Stockton, ICE agents’ presence can pose the same risk anywhere.
“What happened there can happen here, any day, for whatever reason,” he said.
Some who did not take to the mic nonetheless expressed outrage over Good’s slaying too.
“What happened … was just beyond the pale,” Stockton resident Nancy Heinz said. “I just had to be here to honor this woman who got murdered, at the hands of this murderous regime.”
‘I almost feel like she sacrificed for us’
The founder of the San Joaquin County Farmworker and Immigrant Support Group, Alicia Ramirez said she was “here to say her name, and tell her she will not be forgotten.” She added, “I almost feel like she sacrificed for us.”
Throughout the vigil, organizers and speakers reminded the group of activities those who want to take action can join.
Those activities included continued No Kings protests happening every Saturday around noon at San Joaquin Delta College, according to organizers; as well as volunteering at a booth that organizers set up between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily outside Stockton’s ICE Field Office, to take down identifying information for people heading in for check-ins, in case they’re arrested inside.
Those interested in taking action can also seek training as legal observers to document ICE interactions with community members, organizers said.
As Stocktonians — alongside people across the country — grapple with how to respond in the wake of Good’s killing, Ramirez offered a message: “Do not allow crimes to be pushed on your neighbors,” she said.
“Stand your ground.”
Stocktonia reporter Shaylee Navarro contributed to this story.
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
