Several dozen protesters marked the one-month anniversary of Renee Good’s death with gatherings in Minneapolis on Saturday, and some of those protests turned into arrests outside a federal building, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office said. The arrests occurred during a demonstration held around midday outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, where protesters threw items at a line of police guarding the property before the standoff expanded.
The sheriff’s office said the arrests began after the crowd started throwing chunks of ice and that some property was damaged. The sheriff’s office said a deputy was hit in the head and a squad vehicle’s windshield was smashed. Police declared the gathering unlawful and ordered protesters to leave, and many complied, according to the Star Tribune.
The sheriff’s office said about 100 protesters remained at the site after many people left. That group stayed in a standoff with deputies, state troopers and state conservation officers. The sheriff’s office later told television station KSTP that at least 42 arrests were made.
Good was killed on Jan. 7 as she was driving away from immigration officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood. The federal immigration officer shot and killed Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her car after agents surrounded her Honda Pilot SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home. Bystander video described in the report shows an officer approaching the SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The vehicle began to pull forward, and another ICE officer standing in front of it pulled his weapon and immediately fired at close range, according to the report.
The report said the Trump administration called Good a domestic terrorist who tried to run over an officer, while state and local officials rejected that characterization. Alex Pretti was killed on Jan. 24 during a scuffle with immigration officers on the street, the report said. Bystander video shows officers took Pretti to the ground and that an officer spotted Pretti’s gun, which he was licensed to carry, then shouted “He’s got a gun” before two officers opened fire.
Saturday’s separate memorial in a Minneapolis park drew hundreds of attendees on a snow-covered field, the report said. Event organizers honored both Good and Pretti and echoed criticisms of the immigration crackdown across Minnesota, describing it as a federal occupation. Lakota spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse led a ceremony at the front of the crowd, and others shared music and poetry.
Becca Good, Good’s wife, issued a statement on Saturday that addressed the public attention focused on her family while arguing that other people were also affected. In her statement, 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,” adding that the harmed were “neighbors, friends, co-workers, classmates.” She said, “And we must also know their names. Because this shouldn’t happen to anyone.”
On Wednesday, Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, announced the administration would pull 700 immigration officers from Minnesota, roughly a quarter of the officers deployed to the state, after state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants, the report said. Homan did not say when the administration would end its crackdown in Minnesota, according to the report.