A month after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis, her partner spoke out on Saturday, condemning the federal government’s immigration crackdown that took Good’s life and urging the city to remember those whose names are never known.
In a rare statement issued through her attorney, Becca Good thanked the city and said she was “so proud to call Minneapolis my home.”
She also criticized the federal government’s immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, during which federal law enforcement killed her partner and ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37.
“Renee was not the first person killed, and she was not the last,” she said. “You know my wife’s name and you know Alex’s name, but there are many others in this city being harmed that you don’t know — their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don’t look like mine.”
“They are neighbors, friends, coworkers, classmates. And we must also know their names,” she added. “Because this shouldn’t happen to anyone.”
Becca Good has seldom spoken publicly since her partner’s killing on Jan. 7.
The killing occurred about a month after the Trump administration surged 3,000 immigration agents to the Twin Cities in what officials have dubbed Operation Metro Surge. Agents descended on Minnesota after right-wing influencers renewed scrutiny in a state fraud scandal involving Somali nationals.
More than 4,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended since the operation began in December, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The operation, which has led to the apprehensions of some children, has sparked near-daily protests in the Twin Cities. It has also transformed the daily lives of many who live there, with people volunteering to deliver groceries to undocumented immigrants and safeguard their neighborhoods from immigration authorities.
A representative for DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.
Weeks after Good’s killing, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Customs and Border Protection agents. Trump administration officials initially defended the agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” However, days after his killing, the administration said it would be drawing down its operation in the state. This week, officials said they would send home 700 agents.
The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into Pretti’s death but has not done so for Good.
“Renee and I chose kindness. We believed that every life deserves the same care, treatment, and dignity, no matter who they are or what they look like,” Becca Good said in her statement. “That shouldn’t be radical. If it is, then I want Renee and our family to be known for how we practiced radical kindness every day.”
The killings have prompted calls to reform DHS and for Noem to resign. Two of Renee Good’s brothers addressed lawmakers this week at a public forum to raise concerns about the violent tactics used by DHS.
“The deep distress our family feels because of Nee’s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change,” Luke Ganger, one of the brothers, testified.
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