On Jan. 7, Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE Agent Jonathan Ross. Since then, the Trump Administration’s rhetoric surrounding ICE impunity has only ramped up, while Nazi rhetoric from the government grows and disinformation surrounding her murder is spread by the president himself.
The video, which is easily accessible, shows Good sitting in her front seat as she tries to drive away from the ICE officers. Ross says she tried to run him over, and of the four shots fired only one was through the front windshield.
It should be noted Ross has PSTD from an incident involving a car just six months prior, but it calls into question why an armed agent would be allowed into such a situation if this was a known issue.
While the public and many local and state governments call for punishment against such actions from ICE, the federal government has really doubled-down on ICE immunity.
“That guy,” Vice President JD Vance said, “is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job.” President Trump even defends Ross, saying Good tried to run him over.
At a certain point I wonder if the geriatrics running our government remember that videos can be posted to the internet, and that millions have seen this situation from a plethora of angles.
A message Stephen Miller gave to ICE agents through FOX News said, “To all ICE officers, you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony.”
Here’s the kicker: that was last October in response to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker being uncomfortable with the ICE presence.
Now, as tensions grow stronger with ICE, the “immunity” given to agents seems to hold against the restraints of state law. In a case from November, U.S. v. California, the DOJ argued it was unconstitutional – a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause – for Gov. Gavin Newsom, and by extension California, to enforce its No Secret Police Act and No Vigilantes Act.
Their argument essentially boils down to “you cannot challenge the federal government, or ICE.”
Currently HR 4944 is making its way through Congress, aimed at ending qualified immunity for ICE agents. But with Republican control of both houses, it has little chance of passing.
Instead, the federal government’s reaction has become aligned with something many of us expected: old school Nazism.
On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Labor released a video on X with the caption, “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American.”
While it already sounds bad by itself, it mirrors a Nazi phrase, “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer!” or “One people, one empire, one leader!” This was a central phrase used by the Nazi Party – just one example from a myriad of phrases and posters that our own government has issued in support of ICE or Trump’s policies.
