‘Her life mattered’: Kansas Citians march to remember Renee Good, ICE victims
Kansas City joined in nationwide demonstrations Saturday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across the country, and honor the individuals killed in recent days.
Demonstrators took to Mill Creek Park, W. 47th St. and Broadway Boulevard, for a peaceful vigil and rally to remember Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis Wednesday.
People held signs and gathered in a large circle next to a fountain on the south side of the park. There, loudspeakers amplified the passionate voices of people in opposition of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement initiatives.
The roundabout of chanting voices cheered at the proclamation, “We honor Renee (Good) today and say clearly, ‘Her life mattered.’”
Renee Good shooting sparks outrage
The fatal shooting of Good was captured on camera by bystanders and has sparked differing accounts from officials about whether the shooting appeared to be justified.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a news conference that one of the agent’s vehicles had become stuck in some snow and they were attempting to push it out when Good “weaponized her vehicle” and tried to run over them. Noem called it an act of domestic terrorism and defended the shooting as self-defense.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz disputed the government’s claims. They said the videos showed Good driving away from agents, not trying to hit them. At a Wednesday news conference, Frey angrily told ICE to leave the city.
Good’s wife Becca, who witnessed the fatal shooting, said in a statement Friday, “We had whistles. They had guns.” She focused her statement on Good’s life and expressing gratitude for the outpouring of support from across the country.
Spread out across Mill Creek Park in Kansas City Saturday, people chanted and sang. Some held American flags and bouquets of flowers.
Sporting her own bouquet Saturday was Shannon Stipe, who stood with her friend Bruce Rennie, on the west side of the park. Stipe said the tragedy of Good’s death compelled them to show support for a young woman who lost her life.
“You just feel like you want to do something, and come gather with other people,” Stipe said. “You feel that this is not right — it’s all so wrong.”
Rennie, who held an American flag with white flowers perched at the top, said Good’s death left him wondering why it had to end that way.
“I’m just heartbroken and I’m angry watching these videos again and again from different angles,” Rennie said. “She did not have to die.”
Rennie also said that he felt officials spoke out about the video of Good’s death too soon, before a thorough investigation could be conducted to gather the facts.
KC participates in nationwide rallies
Good’s death has sparked outrage and concern among advocacy groups across the nation. She was known as a wife, award-winning poet and mother of three who lived in Kansas City for some time before moving to Minnesota.
Indivisible KC, a progressive activist group helped organize Saturday’s event, along with the help of Boots on the Ground Midwest and KC Women’s Action Collective. In a news release, the national chapter of Indivisible said there were more than 1,000 events planned in response to Good’s death, and other immigration enforcement incidents.
“Across the country, communities will gather in nonviolent, lawful, and community-led actions to honor the life lost, demand accountability, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions,” Indivisible said in a news release Friday.
The goal of Saturday’s events are to “honor and humanize the lives taken by ICE, demand accountability and transparency, and expose the broader pattern of ICE violence, including deaths in detention,” the news release said.
Event organizers said they aimed to “create a space for grief, solidarity, and collective action.”
Sitting on a bench at Mill Creek Park around 4 p.m. Saturday, Mark Armato, 68, braced a picket sign and his cane against his feet.
Armato, who said he’s not shy about using his voice to protest, came to mourn the loss of Good collectively, he said. Good, the person fatally shot in Minnesota, and good, as he sees it, in American diplomacy.
“We’re now enemies with our old allies,” Armato said about American international relations. “I’m here to try and lend a voice to the masses protesting what’s going on in this country. ... We want to see a change.”
Saturday’s vigil was the second demonstration planned in Kansas City this week. People braved a cool drizzle to gather at Kansas City’s Ilus Davis Park outside City Hall Thursday evening to remember Good.
Previous reporting by The Star’s Caroline Zimmerman, Judy Thomas, Nathan Pilling, PJ Green and Eric Adler contributed.
