Renee Good Was A Neighbour, A Mum, And A Wife Before The Fatal ICE Shooting
LGBTQIA+ community mourns the loss of a beloved wife, mother and writer, killed during interaction with ICE agents.
It is hard to reconcile the image of a “domestic terrorist” with a woman who described herself as a “shitty guitar strummer” and spent her time writing poetry. Yet that is the picture painted by some Whitehouse officials following the death of Renee Nicole Good. On January 7, 2026, the 37-year-old member of the LGBTQIA+ community was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis. While the political storm rages, we need to remember the human being at the centre of this tragedy.
A life lived with sparkles.
Renee was a mother, a writer and a wife. Friends and family remember her as a radiant presence who had recently moved to Minneapolis with her wife, Becca Good, and their six-year-old son. Becca described her late partner in a heartbreaking statement, saying, “Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter, but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores.”
Born in Colorado Springs, Renee earned an English degree from Old Dominion University and had a passion for the creative arts. She was a woman who made messy art with her kids and hosted a podcast with her late first husband. Her social media bio simply read “poet and writer and wife and mom”. It is this gentleness that her loved ones are clinging to now.
Whistles against guns.
The details of that Wednesday morning are harrowing. Renee was driving her Honda Pilot on Portland Avenue South, just blocks from her home, when she encountered ICE agents conducting an operation. According to witnesses and video footage, the situation escalated quickly but confusingly.
While official reports initially claimed aggression, video evidence shows a different story. In one clip, Renee can be heard calmly telling an agent, “I’m not mad at you,” moments before shots were fired. Her wife, Becca, later clarified their intent in a public statement. “We stopped to support our neighbours,” she said. “We had whistles. They had guns.”
The couple had stepped in to observe, a common practice in their neighbourhood where residents look out for one another. They were raising their son to believe in compassion and kindness. Becca insists that they were simply trying to ensure the safety of those around them.
A community in mourning.
The aftermath has been devastating for the local neighbourhood and the broader LGBTQIA+ family. A crowdfunding campaign for Renee’s family raised over $1.5 million in just 48 hours, showing the global outpouring of support.
At a candlelight vigil, thousands gathered to honour her memory. They did not speak of a “warrior” or a “terrorist” but of a neighbour who loved tea, cookies and her family. Kierra Johnson of the National LGBTQ Task Force expressed the collective grief, stating, “We recognise and mourn the loss of Renee Nicole Good… This loss of life was preventable and reprehensible.”
Where do we go from here?
Renee’s story reminds us that our existence can be politicised in the blink of an eye. Renee Good was a woman living her truth, raising a family and trying to be a good neighbour.
As investigations continue and narratives clash, the most important thing we can do is keep her memory alive. Not as a political pawn, but as the woman who sparkled. The woman who loved her wife and kids. The woman who should still be here today.
