A note about Saturday’s livestream: Jill and I will be attending an Ice Out for Good protest in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles on Saturday morning. I have been asked to speak at the protest, but the timing of my remarks is fluid.
I will start a Substack livestream sometime Saturday morning after 10 am Pacific / 1:00 pm Eastern. (I will send an email when I go live.) That uncertainty may make it difficult for you to watch live, especially if you are attending a protest yourself! No worries! I will record and publish the livestream so everyone can view it later in the day!
This is the moment. Take to the streets in peaceful protest.
We are living through a deeply unsettling moment in our nation’s history. Each of us is being called by our country to come to its aid. We must do so without hesitation or reservation. The time for incremental change and accommodation is long past. The moment is now. We must rise to defend democracy, decency, and humanity today. Tomorrow will be too late.
I wish that the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good was not a flashpoint in the resistance to Trump’s brutal regime. But it is, and we must seize this moment to begin the final push to reestablish the primacy of the Constitution, the system of checks and balances, and the rule of law.
Mass action is the key. We, the people, the “governed” whose consent breathes life into the government that is repressing and brutalizing us, must withdraw our consent from an illegitimate regime that does not recognize, much less respect, our founding charter.
If you have been waiting for the right moment to step outside your comfort zone to join the active resistance to Trump’s regime, this is the moment. Take to the streets in peaceful protest to impose the will of the people on a rogue government.
Of equal urgency is the need to return our political discourse to a time when slandering the victim of a reckless killing would mark the end of a politician’s career, not the launch of a presidential campaign. JD Vance has issued a stream of soulless, ghoulish statements attacking an innocent mother of three who was trapped in an ICE swarm in a quiet neighborhood. He is previewing his 2028 presidential campaign persona: angry, snarling, and aggrieved—Donald Trump without the charm or intelligence.1
It is sickening to watch Vance, Noem, and Trump lie in the face of compelling video evidence. They believe that their fascistic, tough-guy act in the face of tragedy will increase their support among an electorate that is turning against them with each passing day.
Their cruel attacks on Renee Good aren’t working. Americans can watch the videos themselves. Even if they do not agree on the sequence of events or the judgments made by Renee Good or ICE agent Jonathon Ross, most Americans do not believe that executing a US citizen in the circumstances of the video was warranted or acceptable in America—or anywhere in the world.
The nonchalance exhibited by ICE agent Ross after shooting a woman in the face was disturbing. He walked calmly to Good’s vehicle and then walked calmly away, refusing to render first aid to a woman in mortal distress. He then got in his truck and fled the scene—in violation of every protocol for officer-involved shootings.
An additional video was released on Friday, which was taken by Jonathan Ross as he interacted with Renee Good shortly before killing her. When Jonathan Ross approached her vehicle, Renee Good said to him, “It’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you.” Seconds later, Ross’s cell phone video records someone very close to the cell phone saying,“F*ckin b*tch.” See HuffPo, Alleged Video Of ICE Shooting From Agent’s Angle Given To Right-Wing Website.
The fact that the federal government is apparently selectively releasing evidence to right-wing websites rather than announcing the release of new evidence in a news conference is despicable. That practice undermines the already non-existent legitimacy of the FBI investigation into the killing of Renee Good.
After the additional video was released, JD Vance posted a statement on Truth Social,
Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self-defense.
Of course, as Vice President, JD Vance should remain neutral until the facts can be determined. But he is acting as defense counsel for Jonathan Ross at the very moment the FBI and DOJ are conducting an investigation to determine what happened. The fact that the Vice President is telling the DOJ that the killing was “self-defense” makes it impossible for the federal investigation to have any legitimacy.
The crassness and callousness of JD Vance’s reaction to the killing is particularly telling. He is the presumptive nominee for the 2028 Republican nomination. His abhorrent conduct is painful to watch but is diminishing his prospects (and those of the GOP) in 2028. Again, I hate to inject politics into Renee Good’s killing, but JD Vance is turning her killing into a campaign plank.
A leading Catholic magazine called JD Vance’s conduct a “stain” on the Catholic faith. See National Catholic Reporter, Catholic Vice President Vance takes to social media to justify killing of Renee Good.
As a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation. Vance knows that, by virtue of her humanity, Good was endowed with inherent dignity, made in the image and likeness of God. Vance knows that only God can take life. Vance knows that protesting, fleeing or even interfering in an ICE investigation (which there is no evidence that Good did) does not carry a death sentence. Vance knows that lying and killing are sins.
Vance knows. He doesn’t care. Vance’s twisted and wrongheaded view of Christianity has been repudiated by two popes. His Catholicism seems to be little more than a political prop, a tool only for his career ambitions and desire for power.
The vice president’s comments justifying the death of Renee Good are a moral stain on the collective witness of our Catholic faith.
Vance has also invoked chilling rhetoric that recalls the worst abuses of human rights under the Nazi regime. Vance said in an interview that ICE would be going “door-to-door” to round up immigrants. The Mirror US, ‘Disturbing’ JD Vance ICE ‘door-to-door’ comments compared to ‘1930’s Germany’ after horror shooting.
Per The Mirror, Vance said,
I think if we’re to see those deportation numbers ramp up as we get more and more people online working for ICE going from door-to-door making sure if you’re an illegal alien you’re going to have to get out of this country
To state the obvious, “going door to door” is the antithesis of “probable cause” required by the Constitution for searches of homes. For a Yale Law School graduate, Vance seems shockingly unfamiliar with the Constitution.
It is true that Vance’s Nazi-like statements will appeal to a hardcore element of the MAGA base. But Vance’s lurch to the white supremacist right will make him unelectable in America. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t oppose him (and his competitors) with every ounce of our being, but we should also be clear-eyed about the fact that the “white supremacist right” is not a broad enough base to elect a US president. To win the presidency, a candidate needs 50%+ of persuadable independents—and they are fleeing Trump in droves.
I raise these points to provide some hope and solace at a time when the ugliness of the comments coming from the administration is taking a punishing toll on the mental health and overall outlook of most Americans. At a time when we have seized the political momentum and captured public sentiment, we are nonetheless looking away in horror and disgust from the spectacle of leaders who are celebrating and weaponizing the death of an innocent American.
On Saturday and Sunday, we will once again see the strength and resolve of the American people. When regular protests become so large that they pose a bigger threat to Trump’s enablers than does Trump’s wrath at their disloyalty, they will gladly abandon him. They are fickle cowards who can read the political winds.
Our country faces a crisis that can be resolved by the people rising in massive numbers to reclaim their primary role in determining the fate of our nation. This is the moment. Take to the streets in peaceful protest. If we do that, we will win.
It won’t be easy, and it may get worse before it gets better. But we are on the path to victory. Stay on the path and motivate others to join us on the march to victory.
See you in the streets this weekend!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Eugene, OR
Over 300 people protested in Kalamazoo, MI on Jan. 8. They met up at the courthouse and walked to city hall.
Friday Bridge Brigade over Mass Turnpike in Upton
Fairbanks, AK
Over 100 Fairbanksans turned out in frigid weather on the 9th of January in 30 below zero temps to protest the murder of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Luminaries were placed in the snow as a tribute to Renee Nicole Good.
A few North Country Resilience volunteers were able to get together in Littleton, NH today to protest ICE action. They displayed “ICE FASCISM KILLS.”
We plan to be on one of our overpasses on Sunday afternoon, too. We’re determined to continue the fight no matter what comes next.
Small but enthusiastic group of folks showed up for weekly anti ICE overpass protest in Skokie, Il. The honks and beeps always feel encouraging. Millions of Americans understand how wrong this is! There were also folks at 4 nearby overpasses this afternoon!#activism
Visibility Bridge Brigade
Mendocino Coast folks came out in force to say NO MORE ICE murders and we’ll be back again for ICE OUT FOR GOOD.
Exit 4, Route 91, Putney, VT
Silver Spring, MD
Greensboro, NC
Chico, CA
I loved your suggestion of putting a sign in the window. Here’s the makeshift sign I put up in my home office window. Right now I’m spending many, many hours at my desk, so it’s a great visual reminder. Hopefully soon, I won’t be working so much and will have time to get back out protesting!
Haverhill, MA
Thursday Eve vigil remembering Renee Nicole Good, Haverhill MA, 150 attended, many faith leaders.
Sand Lake, NY
Wednesday’s protest in the little town of Sand Lake, NY, in Elise Stefanik’s district. People have gathered at this busy intersection every Thursday since summer.
That was sarcasm, dear readers. No angry emails, please.
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