Woman shot dead by ICE agent in Minnesota
A woman was shot dead during a raid by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The US Department of Homeland Security has said the officer who shot her was acting in self-defence, as the woman had attempted to run him over. The city's Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey, has described this as "bullshit". Protests against ICE have broken out in Minneapolis and other cities.
War against his own country
Renee Nicole Good fell victim to Trump's policies, Il Manifesto concludes:
“In a country where lethal police violence still causes a thousand deaths a year, this tragedy could be attributed to a perverse and militarised normality in which disobeying a police officer's orders can easily turn into a death sentence. However, Good is a victim of a war that Donald Trump has declared on his own country, on immigrants, on states and cities that do not accept his policies, and on those who resist the ethnic cleansing of the 'great deportation'.”
Strategy of dehumanisation
El País fears for the rule of law in the US:
“Behind this repression is Stephen Miller, a fanatical racist and deputy chief of staff in the White House. ... Under his ideological leadership, ICE has gone from being a civilian law enforcement agency to a paramilitary force. ... It is pursuing a strategy of dehumanisation. ... The damage goes beyond that: trust in institutions is being undermined, the rule of law is being disregarded and the use of lethal force against civilians is being normalised. ... Institutional violence against immigrants means that the state can treat anyone it defines as 'the others' with brutal harshness. ... The death of Renee Good is a warning: when the law is applied unequally and violently, it ceases to be the law.”
Martyr to the cause
The Guardian applauds civil society's revolt against ICE operations:
“These protesters are among the best of America, ragefully and rightfully facing down the armed forces of a would-be autocrat in an effort to protect the innocent. ... Renee Nicole Good represented the spirit of the movement: a hatred for injustice, a desire to protect the innocent, a sense of responsibility to those around her. Now, she has become a martyr to the cause. ... Everywhere ICE goes, they have been met with ridicule, resistance, and contempt from ordinary Americans, unarmed and unbending, who have faced down the kidnappers and bullies in persistent protests and street actions ... This, too, is a truth of this country: that people ... like Good, are more numerous than the racists and the autocrats.”
A politically explosive act
This could become a dangerous issue for Trump, Der Standard postulates:
“The current escalation is nothing more than the result of Trump's inhumane political power struggle against his political opponents. Stirring up fear among his own citizens so that he can play the saviour in a non-existent apocalypse is not going to end well in the long run. And Trump's henchmen have now taken this despicable game too far. This deadly incident certainly has similar potential to the violent death of George Floyd in 2020, and the subsequent 'Black Lives Matter' protests. Trump may still get his personal apocalypse.”
Escalation must be avoided
Trump could exploit violent protests for his own purposes, warns The Economist:
“[Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob] Frey urged Minnesotans to stay calm and peaceful in the aftermath of the shooting. He is no doubt remembering how quickly protests escalated in his city after the murder of George Floyd by police in 2020. For months Mr Trump has seemed to want to provoke protesters to violence in order to justify cracking down even harder on Democrat-run cities. ... He has long toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to send troops to cities.”