Renee Nicole Good, the Minneapolis mother shot while interfering with a federal immigration enforcement operation on Wednesday after striking a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent with her SUV, reportedly became connected to an anti-ICE activist network through her child’s K-5 charter school.
Good, the 37-year old mother of three, was also a member of “ICE Watch,” an organized group that monitors and seeks to disrupt ICE operations, according to the New York Post.
The outlet spoke with friends, school parents, and former staff members that said Good’s involvement in the network grew out of relationships formed at Southside Family Charter School, a Minneapolis institution serving grades K-5 that openly emphasizes social justice education and political engagement as part of its mission.
The school’s mission, as written on its website, reads:
The Southside Family Charter School (SFCS) is a small, K-5 school that meets the needs of a culturally and ethnically diverse population by engaging children in critical thinking and problem solving, involving children in political and social activism, encouraging creative expression, offering a wide range of electives and advocating for children and families.
The school says it is “unique” by integrating “social justice into every grade level, telling the stories of the people, not the people in power, and helping students understand history and their role in making the world a better place.”
Notably, as the school is for elementary-aged students, the institution also boasts itself as a “welcoming place” for “LGBTQ+ students.”
Fox News, citing information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reports that Good had followed ICE agents to multiple locations earlier in the day and was attempting to interfere with enforcement operations by blocking roadways.
Video circulating online appears to show an agent approaching Good’s SUV before it briefly reverses and suddenly moves forward, prompting a second agent positioned in front of the SUV to fire several shots at close range.
Good’s path into activism reportedly began after she moved to Minneapolis last year and enrolled her 6-year-old son at Southside Family Charter School.
Former Southside gym teacher Rashad Rich, who resigned from the charter school last month, told the New York Post, “From my understanding, she was involved in social justice … we are a tight-knit community and a lot of parents are [activists].”
A mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same charter school, also told the outlet, “[Good] was trained against these ICE agents — what to do, what not to do, it’s a very thorough training. To listen to commands, to know your rights, to whistle when you see an ICE agent.”
Good, her 40-year old wife, Rebecca, and children had previously left their Kansas City, Missouri, neighborhood for Canada following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, spending several months there before relocating to Minneapolis, according to a former neighbor who spoke to the Kansas City outlet KMBC.
As noted by the New York Post, the family lived in a “working-class, activist-heavy” South Minneapolis neighborhood marked by LGBTQ+ flags and George Floyd signs.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Southside Family charter School” by GoogleMaps.
