“Domestic Terrorists”

Interview with Andi, one of Renée Good's neighbors. Conducted by Marlow

When I was a sophomore in my undergrad, I organized a group to hike to a place called the "Lake of the Crags" in Grand Teton National Park (see Figure 1). As I was prone to in that time of my life, I placed myself in a precarious position. An alluring escarpment that the trail looped over a mile to get to the top of was a temptation too great for me at the time to ignore. I told the group I’d rendezvous with them at the top, and they continued on the trail as I began to scale the cliffs. The stone was relatively broken up, and the climb was easy going. The weather that day was teetering between sunny and overcast, and, as things go in the mountains, good weather can very quickly become bad weather. As I neared the top, I began to feel the raindrops. My arrogant pleasure quickly soured as I apprehended my predicament: I was over a hundred feet in the air on rock that was beginning to wetten. My leisurely pace quickened as I raced to the top before I lost my traction. As luck would have it, about two feet from the top I found myself stuck. I had a good foothold but the rock at that point was too slick to advance. Draping over the edge was an old branch. I had no idea what it was attached to or how strong it was. I looked for another option, but the slick rock foiled all attempted downclimbing and repositioning. I began to get cold from the rain, and my forearms began to burn from the position I was holding for so long. Weighing my options, I decided to grab for the branch and pull myself up. Fortunately, it held. 

In positions that make us feel trapped, there are usually precious few safe or good options. The current global political climate seems to be in a state of chaos and instability. In Europe, a land war with an imperialistic madman continues to rage while the alt-right is on the rise, fueled by xenophobia. In the Middle East, the exposed sores of war continue to fester. Africa has seen its plethora of civil wars, and acts of political violence increase as foreign resource exploitation ramps amid cuts to aid. Asia is on edge as civil wars rage, and China continues to beat the ancient battle drums of ethno-nationalism. And in my home, the United States, a seeming state of self-dissolution looms as a fascistic MAGA coalition rips apart our institutions, international relations, economic system, and rule of law. It's easy to feel that our predicament is choking, all-encompassing— that we're impotent and directionless. The recent shooting of Renee Good seems to be just another lashing amongst the batterings we have all collectively experienced in the past several years. On January 7th, Renee Good was killed, by all accounts, in a completely unjustified and malicious act of violence by ICE officer Johnathan Ross [1]. Ross, a veteran of the Iraq war, served as a border patrol agent from 2007 to 2015 and as an ICE agent from 2015 to the present [2]. Unlike many of his compatriots— most of whom have been practically scooped off the street and handed a firearm and tactical gear —Ross, a firearms trainer [3], has been in law enforcement long enough to exclude him from the benefit of the doubt one might extend to the droves of incompetent new ICE recruits. 

ICE's blatant disregard of regulations, rule of law, and human decency does not exist in a vacuum; it is the culmination of a long train of abuses in the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota. Gregory Bovino (see Figure 2), one of the leaders of “Operation Metro Surge" (the swarming of 2,000 ICE agents in Minneapolis [4]) has a long history of fomenting a culture of cruelty and excess during his time in border patrol [5]. This deliberately-cultivated environment is a culmination of the ideology of cruelty that has taken root in the Trump administration— it would have inevitably led to death. Renee Good just happened to be there. Protests against the killing of Renee and wider grievances with ICE’s brutality have erupted in Minneapolis and in cities and towns across the country. People are angry, tense, and afraid of what has happened and what the Trump admin is promising. 

The recent protests in Minneapolis have been both striking and hopeful. Digital Ground Game member Andi, a PhD student living near where Renee Good was murdered, was able to attend the Vigil the night of the 8th, the subsequent protests at the Whipple building, and the march in Powderhorn Park on the 10th. 

“It's kind of crazy because, I mean, it's literally my neighborhood. This happened in my neighborhood. You know, she was basically my neighbor and she was killed by these people. And so it's crazy to be out here, and crazy how this has become a whole national story.” (Andi)

The protests are widespread and ongoing, but most striking from Andi's accounts was how the march at Powderhorn Park— organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (see interview disclaimer)—unfolded. The protests were mostly people of the Powderhorn Park community going out to voice their outrage at the tragedy that had defiled their community. 

“But this is just any other neighborhood. And to see just like thousands and thousands of people out in the streets and in a regular neighborhood like this, it was really incredible to see. And, you know, a lot of these people were just people who live in the neighborhood who were showing up, right? As I was walking to the protest, there were tons of neighbors who were coming out from their houses to come join. You know, like it was really, really cool to see. So yeah, tons of just, you know, regular, you know, people who love America, who love the Constitution, and who don't want to see their fellow Americans get gunned down in the streets by unaccountable agencies.” (Andi)

What was most striking about this march was how the intent of the people living there dominated the tenor of the event. People were not sloganeering the cause of micro states abroad; they were not asking for the complete restructuring of society— they were not virtue signaling their niche causes. They were angry at the violence enacted in their home by an out-of-control state, and they wanted those perpetrating it to stop and leave. 

“You know, there was tons of people waving American flags. The message from almost everyone was simply focused on anti-ICE. We don't want ice killing people. We don't want ice, you know, dragging people out of their homes who haven't done anything wrong. Yeah, that was kind of the singular message of basically everyone there.” (Andi)

As of the writing of this article, protests are continuing. Andi has gone to more protests at the Whipple building (the federal building where ICE is headquartered in Minneapolis) and has seen ICE continue to escalate tensions and violence.

Late 2024 and early 2025 were probably when I felt the most demoralized. The people who had screamed for four years from the pulpit their malicious intent began to enact it. And I felt powerless. I didn't know what to do. That black hole in my chest sent me on a search to try and find out what I could do. That, too, was a demoralizing process. Everyone seemed aimless, and I wanted to change things now. I spent months looking for a silver-bullet-cause behind which I could throw my weight. This mentality left me more demoralized than when I started, and I started to drift into a realm of nihilism. What pulled me back was some good council from a close friend— I needed to stop trying to find the perfect movement to get behind, and just start doing something. Opportunities would only come when I was engaged in an environment that allowed them to. I began looking with the intent of involving myself first, rather than solving first. It was a humbling but necessary step in the right direction. 

In Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, there is a great lesson on fighting an all-encompassing, encroaching enemy. For those who have just watched the films, the assault on the free peoples of Middle Earth was not just constrained to the titular nations in the films. It was an assault on all peoples at once, tying everyone down so no one could help each other, leaving all to fend for themselves. Everyone was stretched thin, faced with an assailant in their own backyard. It is easy to overlook the many battles, sacrifices, and lives lost to hold the enemy at bay long enough for the titular heroes to complete their quests, but those efforts were just as important to the success as the heroes of the story. It is an important lesson to learn that all levels of action are essential and that you are needed where you can help. When thinking of the American civil war, it's easy to focus on the strategies of Grant, Sherman, and Lincoln while forgetting that they were carried out through the sacrifices and efforts of thousands of hands now forgotten— as Tolkien penned: “... such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” [7]

The year we now enter will be a decisive year. It will ask us to act in opposition to a dishearteningly large threat. The upcoming Midterms Election seems overwhelming; asking “what can I do about it?” is a daunting question. The answer of how the wheel will turn is through many hands working where they stand with the means they have. Our victory calls for many levels of participation and many avenues to help. If you are still unsure how to best help, I invite you to simply start volunteering your time. If you haven't done so yet, Digital Ground Game has weekly calls to actions (CTAs) you can participate in. Currently, there is a Digital Ground Game CTA to participate in a local anti-ICE protest. Look where you can volunteer locally: there is always a deficit of hands needed. Something as simple as a food drive could be your open door into political action. 

To those who are gripped by disillusionment and apathy as a result of the state and direction of the world, I want share the following passage from Vasily Grossman:

"I have seen that it is not man who is impotent in the struggle against evil, but the power of evil that is impotent in the struggle against man. The powerlessness of kindness, of senseless kindness, is the secret of its immortality. It can never be conquered. The more stupid, the more senseless, the more helpless it may seem, the vaster it is. Evil is impotent before it. The prophets, religious teachers, reformers, social and political leaders are impotent before it. This dumb, blind love is man’s meaning. Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. But if what is human in human beings has not been destroyed even now, then evil will never conquer." [8]

The villains of The Lord of the Rings, the leaders of the confederacy, the fascist movements of the 20th century, and our current fascistic government all share the intent to dominate and crush those qualities and traits that make us human. Disillusionment, apathy, and nihilism are the goals of this administration. They want us all feeling isolated, thin, and stretched so we withdraw into ourselves. The cure is the very thing they seek to crush, simple kindness, of trying to help where you can. I cannot promise that things are going to be alright, that things will get better, or that it's uphill from here. But what I know is that the wheel of history is turned by the uncounted, small, and unseen hands that lift where they stand with what means and measure they have. 

"Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." —J.R.R. Tolkien 

Sources

[1] - Andi

[2] - ABC News Minneapolis ICE shooting: A minute-by-minute timeline of how Renee Nicole Good died- https://abcnews.go.com/US/minneapolis-ice-shooting-minute-minute-timeline-renee-nicole/story?id=129021809 

[3] - NBC News: The ICE officer who killed a Minnesota woman is a war veteran who spent over a decade working for DHS https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-officer-jonathan-ross-veteran-spent-decade-dhs-rcna253254 

[4] - Wired - ICE Agent Who Reportedly Shot Renee Good Was a Firearms Trainer, Per Testimony https://www.wired.com/story/ice-agent-jonathan-ross-renee-good-shooting-firearms-trainer-testimony/ 

[5] - PBS - 2,000 federal agents sent to Minneapolis area to carry out 'largest immigration operation ever,' ICE says -  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says 

[6] - POGO Investigates - Greg Bovino’s Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data Shows by Nick Schwellenbach and Will Sytsma - https://www.pogo.org/investigates/greg-bovinos-border-patrol-agents-use-disproportionate-force-data-shows 

[7] - The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R Tolkien

[8] - Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman