Renee Good Was the Kind of Person I Should Be

"I don't know exactly what I should be doing right now, as a person who lives in the United States in 2026 and cares about others. But I know I'm falling short. I think about this often: When I'm sobbing over a news report about a toddler orphaned after his parents are swept up in an ICE raid, asking myself, "How are you helping, other than donating money here and there and sharing Instagram stories?""

"It is exceedingly clear that Good was not threatening agents when she was shot. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told NPR that Good was "anything but" a domestic terrorist, despite the claims of Trump administration officials who say she was interfering with the ICE agent's work. Instead, he said, she was a "compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer on behalf of her immigrant neighbors.""

A U.S. resident in 2026 expresses guilt about insufficient action to aid immigrants and repeatedly confronts personal excuses about work, children, energy, and time. The resident mourns Renee Good, who was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a Minneapolis raid while present as a legal observer. Tabloid coverage labeled ICE Watch groups confrontational, but Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison described Good as "anything but" a domestic terrorist and as a "compassionate neighbor trying to be a legal observer on behalf of her immigrant neighbors." The resident views Good's presence as moral courage that they aspire to emulate but feel they have fallen short of.

Read at Slate Magazine