Minneapolis - My Take

(Note.  Yes, it's been a month since I last posted.  But life happens, such as a very large tree crashing through your house in the morning of Christmas Eve.  And then living in a hotel ever since.  So perhaps some of these stories are dated, given that we operate within a 24 hour news cycle.  I do hope that I add some information.  Then, of course, there's my take.)

On January 7, 2026, with ICE officers out in force in Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer.  Good had parked her car sideways across a street, intentionally blocking traffic.  There are various camera angles of the incident, with some audio.  Good could be heard saying:  "That's fine dude.  I'm not mad at you."  Good's wife said:  "You want to come at us?  You want to come at us?  I say go and get yourself some lunch, big boy."  

An officer tells her to get out of the car.  She doesn't.  Rather, she turns the steering wheel and starts to drive away.  The officer says she hit him with her car.  The last video I saw, sent by a friend, seems to support the officer.  Someone can be heard yelling "woah!, woah!"  There are gun shots.  Eventually, Good's wife can be heard screaming "I killed her."  

My take.  Let's back up.  People (probably mostly leftists, and probably many paid protesters) were protesting the presence of ICE officers in Minneapolis.  I would ask them if they also protested the 10 million people that Biden allowed to enter the country illegally.  Did they protest Biden ceding the sovereignty of the United States of America?  Because Trump would not have needed to send ICE out across the country if Biden had enforced the immigration laws.  I would also ask these protesters why they don't want criminals here illegally (murderers, rapists, gun and human traffickers) to be deported.  Why do they want them here?

Clearly, I grew up in a different era.  An era when we were taught to respect law enforcement officers.  Taunting the police was out of the question.  As was assaulting police.  I saw the protesters throwing snowballs at the officers.  I saw them disobeying the police, and engaging in physical altercations with them.  I don't understand any of it.

I am not sure how many laws Good violated.  Blocking traffic.  Disobeying a police order.  Evading the police, and in the process possibly hitting an officer with her car.  To be clear, most of that does not warrant the use of lethal force by the police.  But if the officer had a reasonable belief that the person was trying to cause serious bodily injury or death, then it's my understanding that lethal force may be used.  My judgment?  I'd like to see the full investigation report.  Calling the officer a murderer immediately after the fact was so wrong.  But perhaps these are the same people who celebrated/justified the murder of Charlie Kirk.

The Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, made one wrong comment after the next.  "They (ICE) are not here to cause safety in this city."  "They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense.  Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit."  And this:  "To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.  We do not want you here."  Great job, Mr. Mayor - if you're trying to stir up violent protests.  I guess he did not think that political leaders should be voices of reason.  (And no, it is no excuse to say that Trump is not a voice of reason, so why should the Mayor be.  Trump is not always a voice of reason.  I've said that previously.  But if you justify Frey's remarks, then you've just justified all of Trump's remarks.)

And I agree that the Administration could have been more circumspect in defending the officer.  Probably better to say "we believe he acted in self-defense, but there will be a complete and thorough investigation."  While I have read that ICE officers do not have the authority to arrest American citizens, that on its face sounds preposterous.  At the very least it would seem to be obstruction of justice, for which the offender could be taken into custody.  Even if then turned over to the local police.  Although obstruction is likely a federal offense as well.  

Frey:  "We all know the agenda of this Trump Administration is to create chaos."  Assuming for the sake of this argument that Frey is correct, just what does he think he is doing with his crude language?  Is it chaos to remove from the streets of his city illegal aliens who have already been convicted of murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking or domestic violence?  Those are the people he wants to protect from Trump?  

I'm with the New York Post on this:  "The left bears full blame for this bloodshed."  There has been nonstop criticism of ICE, even after all the assaults, and the shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas (which resulted in the killing of 2 illegal immigrants).  The left has even posted the home addresses of ICE officers.  To what end?  Isn't the job dangerous enough.  But the left wants to eliminate ICE and defund the police.  Let the criminals run wild?  Until someone in their own family is raped or murdered.  One Democrat official after the next has been egging on the protesters.

The Post:  "He (Mayor Frey) and Walz (the Governor of Minnesota) need to start calming the waters, lest more bloodshed flow...If the civilians had just left the law enforcers alone, Renee Nicole Good would still be alive."  Instead, this 37 year old woman, and mother of 3 children, is dead.  It's tragic.  And I agree with Governor Walz on one thing:  her death was "preventable" and "unnecessary."  He just puts the blame in the wrong place.