TOLEDO – The killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis this week sparked protests – not only in Minnesota – but across the country. Good was a mother and U.S. citizen whose name is now at the center of a movement to put a check on ICE’s power. At the corner of Central and Secor on Sunday, a protest was held by the group Toledo Persists.
The Trump administration has defended the ICE agent. Officials claim he shot in self-defense as Good attempted to run him over. However, for many who’ve seen videos of the incident, they draw a separate conclusion. Among them is Christine Mesmer, a veteran of Afghanistan and member of Toledo Persists. She believes “it was murder.”
“Everybody knows you do not fire into a vehicle. Unless you are going to disable it, you fire at the wheels, you fire at the engine block – you do not shoot the person behind the wheel – that is dangerous. A real police officer knows that; anybody that’s done any sort of law enforcement knows that.”
She explained what drove her to be a part of this movement.
“We need to have our voices heard. As a member of this community, as a member of a lot of other communities, we need to have our voices heard,” said Mesmer, who added, “It’s horrible how the machine keeps chewing us up and spitting us out.”
At a time when many feel powerless, Mesmer agrees with the idea that protest is one way of reclaiming power.
“Grassroots starts out here on the streets. This is an absolute grassroot movement. This is just the absolute beginning of what’s going to happen.”
She went on to explain that “at this point, we are going to band together and create community. We’re going to reach out. We’re going to make sure everybody has all the resources that they need, everybody knows where food banks are, where to get clothing, where to get emergency shelter.”
Mesmer said “our immigrant community is what makes this nation so great; diversity is what makes this nation great.”
Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken, who was among the demonstrators on Sunday, said that “ICE hasn’t been here yet, but we don’t wait until they get here.”
Gerken had a message for his fellow elected officials, the county sheriff, and police captains: that they should “keep us safe first” in the event ICE comes to Toledo.
“So they’re not here yet, but let’s let them know that ICE – and the system of deportation trauma they’ve imposed – doesn’t play in Toledo, Ohio.”
He said, “I’m proud of our community for doing this and I wanna be part of it. I’ve been doing this since 1968 – I’m not gonna quit now, and more people are joining in.”
The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Williams County is one of the holding facilities for ICE detainees. According to Commissioner Gerken, “We just received 57 more detainees from ICE two weeks ago.” He said most of them, as Lucas County officials are finding out, have no criminal charges and “are just here because they didn’t have their papers with them.”
Immigration agents have recently been operating in Ohio’s capital city. When asked if he’s concerned that Toledo could be next, Gerken said, “We have great, strong immigrant roots here. We have many people from everywhere here. That’s to say they could come here, so we’re prepared.” He added that “the resistance will meet it when it comes.”
Lucy Frank, in addition to protesting Good’s death, was present to collect signatures on behalf of Amy Acton’s gubernatorial bid.
“I’m a local Democrat and I believe in rights for everybody. My husband, who just became a citizen this past summer – we both believe everybody has a right to be here. And so, I really appreciate everybody coming out today.”
Frank noted that Columbus, which has the second largest Somali community in the U.S. (after Minneapolis), has been feeling the presence of ICE – more so than Toledo has thus far. However, she believes that “we all have to stand beside our brothers and sisters and people who are scared.”
She said that, as an occasional protestor, Good’s death concerns her.
“The fact that I can’t go to a protest, and feel like I can come back alive…that’s not okay in the United States of America – it’s just not.”
There have been calls to abolish ICE, from Frank and others. It’s not something she expects to happen under the Trump administration, but believes the fact it’s a fairly new government agency – created in 2003 – means it’s not one that can’t be eliminated entirely.
Reverend TK Barger, senior minister at the First Unitarian Church of Toledo, spoke to the role of faith officials in activism.
“I don’t often wear a clerical collar, although my profession is minister. But, as I say, when you wear it for protest, you need to show that religion supports this type of action.”
He explained that “we are trying to live in ways that some of the great religious leaders have tried to demonstrate and advocate. Rather than to depend on some supreme entity to change us, it is up to the people to make that change.”
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