On January 7, ICE agents murdered 37 year-old legal observer Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, only blocks away from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. Her murder is yet another example of the brutal nature of the capitalist state and its willingness to violently suppress opposition to reactionary, racist xenophobic policies.
Renee Nicole Good’s blood is on Trump’s hands. He has sent ICE on the offensive in Minneapolis and cities across the country. It was his racist and xenophobic campaign against Somali immigrants that whipped up the Far Right and ICE agents to mobilize 2,000 ICE agents to Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House have described the actions of the murdered activist as an “act of domestic terrorism.” This lie by Homeland Security was so blatant that even Minneapolis Democratic mayor Jacob Frey has called the claim “bullshit.” Footage of the incident actually shows the activist driving away from ICE agents, not toward them, when she was shot.
Renee Nicole Good was carrying out her legal right to observe the activity of ICE and make sure they were not abusing their power as federal agents. She was also defending people against the violence of ICE and their efforts to tear people away from their families and communities. She was doing what thousands of people around the country have done in the year since Trump took office and ramped up attacks on immigrants. The despicable actions of ICE have inspired thousands of people across the country to patrol ICE and provide support for those they target. Trump’s deployment of federal troops in Chicago showed that it’s not just immigrants who are in danger of state violence by federal authorities. We need mass mobilization and labor actions to kick ICE out of our communities and stop U.S. imperialist attacks.
Ramping up State Violence at Home and Abroad
This escalation of violence is not taking place in isolation. It is parallel to the Trump administration’s aggressive international policy, which has been particularly focused on Latin America, with a new version of the Monroe Doctrine that had its first chapter with the attack on Venezuela. Just days before the shooting, the U.S. launched a military offensive against Venezuelan territory, taking a sitting head of state — President Nicolás Maduro — hostage.
Although his foreign policy is focused on Latin America, it doesn’t end there. On Christmas Day, the U.S. military bombed Nigeria under such dubious pretenses that even mainstream media raised its doubts. The real reason for his aggressive foreign policy, particularly against Latin America, is clear: to recuperate the United States’ hegemonic position over Latin America. As the National Security Strategy states, it is an attempt to recuperate influence — spheres of influence — over territories and markets vital for U.S. prevalence in a period of decay.
The assasination of Good in Minneapolis is a concrete example of the domestic consequences of living in a country that is an imperialist power and which is becoming increasingly aggressive in the face of its decline. The resources that they extract from other countries are used to fortify the repressive state apparatus to use domestically against those who raise dissent against the government’s policies.
The Time to Mobilize is Now
This act by ICE cannot go unanswered. We have to organize in the streets and in our workplaces to demand justice for the death of activists in Minneapolis and the end of ICE activity, including all raids and deportations.
For months, hundreds of activists across the country like Renee Nicole Good have taken to the streets to protect their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and members of our immigrant communities. Trump and ICE have not stopped repressing us, but from Los Angeles to Chicago to Providence, we have developed creative and combative tactics to resist. Today, this offensive has taken one of us. It is essential to redouble and nationalize the struggle. The unions must break their paralysis. Rhetoric claiming that they will fight in 2028 is not enough; unions must defend immigrants now. The social movements, from No Kings to the Palestine movement, must unite with labor.
The socialist Left, from Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), must organize the struggle in the streets against the imperialist assault on Venezuela and for justice for Good, as well as to demand ICE get out of our cities. Progressive politicians like Zohran Mamdani must put the city’s resources at the service of this national mobilization against repression and for each and every one of our immigrant brothers and sisters.
The social movements and labor must build a united front that puts an end to the wanton state violence of the Trump administration. But it must also go further. It must take up the demand to abolish ICE, to put an end to all raids and deportations, and for U.S. imperialism to leave Venezuela and Latin America.
The post The Real Terrorists Are ICE! Justice for Renee Nicole Good appeared first on Left Voice.
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