Tragic details emerge about the woman killed by ICE in viral video, and it just gets sadder

The woman shot dead by ICE in a viral video was identified as award-winning poet Renee Nicole Good. The 37-year-old mother of three had only recently moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

School has been cancelled in Minneapolis this week as thousands take to the streets in protest of Renee Nicole Good’s killing. The horrific moment, which has since gone viral on Twitter, happened on Wednesday in what Homeland Security referred to as Operation Metro Surge.

Renee had been dropping her 6-year-old off at school when the fatal encounter happened, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming that she tried to “weaponise her vehicle” against the ICE agents. The Trump administration has since branded her a “domestic terrorist,” despite footage of the encounter from multiple angles. State and local officials have strongly disputed claims, calling it an unjustified murder.

As the ICE agent responsible for her death is identified as Jonathan E Ross, everything we are learning about Renee Nicole Good just makes the situation more devastating. She seemed like a lovely woman.

Credit: ODU English Department/Facebook

Everything we know about Renee Nicole Good

Renee Nicole Good was identified by her mother, Donna Ganger, who told the Minnesota Star Tribune that she was a compassionate, loving person.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She was extremely compassionate,” she said. “She’s taken care of people all her life … She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.”

Renee had moved to the Twin Cities with her partner in 2025, bringing with her three kids. The first two, ages 15 and 12, were from her first marriage. Her six-year-old’s father died in 2023, with the child’s grandfather telling AP: “There’s nobody else in his life.”

Most Read

Prepare to be horrified: Gay twins reveal what they actually do to each other for OnlyFans

It’s 7th January, so is a secret Stranger Things episode coming today?! Here’s the answer

Omg! Drag Race winner says they’re SUING RuPaul and Michelle Visage, and there are receipts

“She had a good life, but a hard life,” Renee’s father said. “She was a wonderful person.”

Her neighbours spoke highly of her

Joe Keery reposts information & calls out Donald Trump and ICE after the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/iXCCfJBdgM

— Joe Keery Updates (@updatingkeery) January 8, 2026

CNN went to Renee’s neighbourhood, where she was well-liked by her neighbours. One such neighbour said Renee had a “really sweet family,” with her son often asking to pet their dog.

“We saw her kids’ sidewalk drawings during the summer,” another neighbour, Clark Hoelscher, said. “I’m a parent, I’ve helped raise five children. I have two kiddos that are my own. I can’t imagine that they came home and their mom isn’t gonna be there anymore.”

She was a poet

Renee Nicole Good attended Old Dominion University in Virginia, graduating in 2020 with an English degree. She took creative writing and the craft of fiction, and excelled at her studies despite being pregnant and working full-time amidst her education.

“She wrote about elderly people, and about people in and from other places, and in circumstances that were unlike her own,” one of her professors said.

In 2020, she won ODU’s American Academy of Poets Prize.

The ICE agent that shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis has reportedly been identified as a man named Jonathan Ross.

(https://t.co/QANFUFPVna) pic.twitter.com/UWdVauVImC

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 8, 2026

Renee Nicole Good is survived by her wife

Though she earlier had kids with men, Renee Nicole Good was more recently married to a woman called Rebecca Brown Good. Her social media often featured rainbow flag emojis.

“I made her come down here. It’s my fault,” Rebecca confessed in a video after the shooting.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook. 

Featured image credit: Facebook/Twitter