Protests against ICE surged nationwide after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, 37, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Wednesday, a Minneapolis woman was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, prompting protests everywhere from New Orleans to Boston, New York City and now the First Coast.
An anti-ICE rally was held outside the federal courthouse in Downtown Jacksonville Thursday evening, with demonstrators heard chanting “Justice for Renee.”
37-year old Renee Good was shot and killed in her car in Minneapolis. Federal officials claim that the agent acted in self-defense and that Good was attempting to hit him with the car while ICE conducted an operation in the area.
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Others interpret the video evidence differently, saying Good was trying to turn the car away and that the agent used unnecessary force.
“Reading the headlines and watching the videos has been completely devastating,” said Vanessa Alvarez, with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance. She and dozens of Jacksonville demonstrators joined others across the country calling for accountability.
“We’re stronger in numbers. We see all these people here fighting, but they’re not fighting just for themselves. They’re fighting for people all over the country. We’re in complete solidarity with the people of Minneapolis, and we’re here to say that we will serve justice,” she said.
In a news conference on Wednesday, the mayor of Minneapolis said he wanted ICE to leave the city, where it has been conducting one of its largest immigration enforcement operations under the Trump Administration.
In Jacksonville, chants echoed through the crowd calling for an end to ICE operations altogether.
“My thoughts is the only threat that we pose to these agents is fear of us winning. They fear that justice will be served,” said Alvarez.
First Coast News reached out to Florida State Representative Dean Black, who sent us this statement:
“Citizens should never interfere with law-enforcement officials carrying out their duties. Period. The situation in Minnesota, while tragic, could have easily been avoided by complying with law-enforcement requests, not interfering with law-enforcement in the performance of their duties, and not driving away and apparently attempting to run down a law-enforcement officer with a vehicle. We should respect the law and law enforcement officers.”
The FBI is now leading the investigation into the fatal shooting.