Official Statement from the Jamestown Justice Coalition

What happened in Minnesota was not a tragic misunderstanding.
It was a murder. Renee Good was murdered.

We are witnessing the normalization of a police state, one where chaos is manufactured, due process is eroded, and violence is sanctioned under the guise of “enforcement.”  This killing was carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency that is creating instability, trauma, and death.

We should expect a high level of training and restraint from our local law enforcement. ICE has repeatedly demonstrated that it is not held to the same standards. There was no de-escalation or attempt to reduce harm. From the outset, the response was aggressive, disproportionate, and violent. This was state-sanctioned violence.

It is especially haunting that this murder occurred just four blocks from where George Floyd was killed, an event that served as a precipitating force in the formation of this coalition. That proximity is not lost on us. It is a painful reminder that the lessons we claimed to learn have not been institutionalized. The systems remain intact. The violence continues.

We are deeply disturbed by the language used to justify this killing. Branding a mother as a “domestic terrorist” and “radical leftist” when she had teddy bears in her glove compartment for her son. This kind of dehumanization is intentional. It makes brutality easier to excuse. It is cruelty dressed up as security.

We continue to advocate for education and transparency around policing and ICE operations, and for a recommitment to due process and human dignity. No agency should be above the standards we demand of others. No community should be terrorized in the name of order.

We grieve this loss. We rage at the injustice. And we recommit ourselves, again, to resisting systems that value control over life.

This was a murder.
And silence is not an option.