TOLEDO – 80 to 100 people gathered in front of Toledo City Hall, 1 Government Center, Thursday evening to protest the actions of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, in Minneapolis, Minn. Good was killed on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Many videos, including different angles, of the shooting have spread across social media since the morning Good was killed while operating a vehicle with a number of ICE agents surrounding it.
Outrage and protests against ICE started the same day as the shooting, following Good’s death, and the protest action on Thursday is one small part of that movement.
Nationally
President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), immediately supported the ICE agent who shot Good saying that the agent acted in self-defense and denounced Good as a “domestic terrorist,” alleging Good was trying to attack the ICE agents with her car.
In reaction to the statements by the president and DHS, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the claims of self-defense “bullshit” during a press conference, and said ICE was “causing chaos and distrust,” ultimately telling ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
Later, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz backed Frey’s sentiments saying Trump and Noem had “done enough,” and issued a warning order to the Minnesota National Guard.
Throughout Jan. 7, ICE agents and protesters met in stalemates, and a large vigil of thousands was held for Good that night.
Outrage over the shooting divided the country along party lines with supporters of the president largely arguing the claim of self-defense, and detractors from the president claiming the shooting was a murder.
The ongoing investigation of the shooting has been just as contentious as the federal and state leadership’s words to each other have been. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has pushed local and state jurisdictions in Minnesota off the case, with Noem casting doubt on Minnesota law enforcement for not investigating protesters who harass ICE.
Walz has backed the state investigative bureau, and said that “Minnesota must be part of this investigation.”
Local impact
A few Toledo Police cars actively watched the small crowd in front of city hall from 6 p.m. until it dwindled by 7 p.m., organized by Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Toledo, Ohio 50501 (No Kings), Northwest Ohio Democratic Socialists of America (NW Ohio DSA), University of Toledo Students for Justice in Palestine (UTSJP) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Toledo.
Toledo City Council Member At-Large Nick Komives attended the protest, but not as an organizer, speaker or leader of it. He told the Toledo Free Press he was there to “stand in solidarity against a government that will attack us in the streets.”
Chants of “Fuck ICE” were intermittent with individual speakers from the crowd grabbing a bullhorn, and highlighting a number of different issues going on in the country.
One such speaker, LaMar Willis, pointed out that an off-duty ICE agent had shot and killed a Black father, Keith Porter, in Los Angeles, Calif. on New Year’s Eve, an incident still under investigation.
Other local community notables included the owner of the Original Sub Shop, Maureen Brogan, who said it was her patriotic duty to attend the protest. “The most patriotic thing you can do is want your country to be better,” she said, and called ICE a modern gestapo terrorizing communities.
David Gedert, made famous on the Food Network for his drag-queen-themed food truck (Maybe Cheese Born With It), announced his candidacy for Marcy Kaptur’s House seat early this week, and attended the protest.
“We do not gun down Americans in the street,” Gedert said. “This is not a partisan issue, and not up for debate.”
Other statements said Good’s death was a failure of capitalism and the two party system.
A local organizer of the event with PSL Toledo, Joshua Haggans of Point Place, told the crowd that ICE was connected to every problem in America, and emphasized that this was not a “singular issue.”
The event ended with a call to action to “do something” and get involved, as community members interacted organically.
