Becca Good, the wife of Renee Good, who was shot and killed in Minneapolis this week by a federal immigration agent, said in a written statement that the couple had stopped to support their neighbors on the day of the shooting.
In the statement, which was provided to Minnesota Public Radio, Becca Good said, “We had whistles. They had guns,” her first public comment about her wife’s death.
The Associated Press reported that video taken by bystanders shows an officer approaching Renee Good’s Honda Pilot SUV and stopping across the middle of the road. The footage shows the officer demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle, according to the AP account of the video.
The AP reported that as the vehicle began to pull forward, a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulled his weapon and fired at least two shots at close range. The description included the officer “jumping back” as the vehicle moved toward him.
The AP said Trump administration officials have characterized Renee Good as a domestic terrorist who tried to run over an officer with her vehicle. It also reported that state and local officials in Minneapolis, along with protesters, rejected that characterization.
The AP said Becca Good had not responded to calls and messages from the Associated Press, and her statement did not add further detail about what happened on the snowy street. Instead, she focused on memorializing her wife.
Becca Good said Renee Good “knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.” She thanked people who reached out to support her family across the United States and around the world.
In the statement, Becca Good wrote that “Renee sparkled” and elaborated: “I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores.” She added, “Renee was made of sunshine,” and said her wife’s family shared the same view.
The AP reported that Renee Good was 37 and a U.S. citizen born in Colorado. It also reported that she apparently was never charged with anything beyond a single traffic ticket.
According to the AP, the couple had recently moved to Minneapolis after an “extended road trip,” and they were raising Renee Good’s 6-year-old son from a previous marriage. Becca Good said people they encountered in the Twin Cities gave them a sense that “they were looking out for each other,” and she wrote: “We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness.”
Becca Good wrote that she was “now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him,” as Renee believed, “that there are people building a better world for him.” She also wrote, “That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”