On Wednesday in Minneapolis, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good during an otherwise nonviolent encounter. Video and eyewitness accounts, which show the woman attempting to flee from ICE as they aggressively attempted to enter her vehicle, contradict the Trump administration’s claims that agents acted in self-defense.
The killing has intensified outrage and grief across Minnesota and the nation, as calls grow for accountability and an end to ICE crackdowns that are driving fear and putting communities in danger.
Paul Raushenbush
This shocking killing is another tragic example of ICE’s brutality and the deadly consequences of the Trump administration’s reckless and authoritarian immigration crackdown. Our hearts are with the victim’s loved ones and the Minneapolis community as they grieve and respond to this horrific tragedy.
Wednesday’s shooting is the latest example of what happens when an administration makes dehumanization, aggression and cruelty the foundation of its agenda. The American people don’t want blood on the streets or armed government forces surrounding our homes, schools and places of worship.
Religious leaders and communities now face a fundamental choice: to choose love, not ICE. Across faith traditions, we are called to protect human dignity, care for the vulnerable and resist systems that thrive on fear. When the Department of Homeland Security attempts to cloak ICE brutality in divine language, it draws directly from Christian nationalist ideology — one that teaches some human lives matter more than others. It’s an attempt to prime the public to accept violence against those deemed outsiders. People of faith must reject this distortion of religion and refuse to let our faiths be weaponized to serve the authoritarian whims of President Trump.
The way forward demands both moral clarity and courageous action. Faith communities must speak out, stand in solidarity with immigrant families and insist on accountability for this killing and other acts of violent repression.
We will continue to take to the streets in peaceful and principled resistance to authoritarian abuse. Choosing love over ICE is not just a slogan — it is a moral stance rooted in the belief that safety comes from solidarity, not terror, and that our shared future depends on dignity, compassion and justice for all.”
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister, serves as president of Interfaith Alliance.
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