Tragic Death of Award-Winning Poet Sparks Protests Over ICE Actions

Fri Jan 09 2026 14:17:53 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother and poet, was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, leading to nationwide protests calling for justice.

Renee Nicole Good, a talented poet and mother of three, was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis. Her death has caused outrage and sparked protests across the country, with many demanding justice. Reports suggest that she was at the scene as a legal observer during an ICE raid. Good's mother described her as a 'kind and compassionate' person, while officials have called her actions 'domestic terrorism.' The incident raises questions about immigration enforcement practices and police conduct.

The woman shot dead by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis has been identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had just moved to the city.

She was a prize-winning poet and a hobby guitarist, and according to Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, a US citizen.

City leaders have said Good was a legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. But the Trump administration has called her a 'domestic terrorist'.

Good's death has sparked protests across the country, with many people holding signs that read 'Justice for Renee'.

Her mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter was 'probably terrified' during the confrontation with officers that saw her fatally shot and that she was 'one of the kindest people I've ever known.'

In what appears to be Good's Instagram account, which has now been made private, Good described herself as a 'poet and writer and wife and mom', who is 'experiencing Minneapolis'. Initially from Colorado Springs, she had moved to Minneapolis just last year from Kansas City.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that she used to host a podcast with her second husband, Tim Macklin, who died in 2023. They had a son together, who is now six years old.

Good studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and in 2020 she won an undergraduate prize from the Academy of American Poets for her piece titled On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs.

In a statement, its president said her sudden death 'is yet another clear example that fear and violence have sadly become commonplace in our nation'.