Federal Agents Keep Invoking Killing of Renee Good to Threaten Protesters in Minnesota |
Amid heated protests in Minneapolis following the killing of Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross, federal agents have repeatedly invoked Good’s death to threaten the lives of observers and demonstrators in Minnesota.
In multiple confrontations in the Minneapolis area, agents repeatedly referred to civilians learning their lesson — in an apparent nod to the use of deadly force in Ross’s killing. In a video posted to Reddit, a masked ICE agent can be heard repeatedly admonishing a driver to “go home to your kids.”
“Stop fucking following us,” the ICE agent screams.
Phil Maddox, a local resident, told The Intercept he recorded the video on Sunday morning during a quick drive around his neighborhood to keep tabs on federal agents in the area. After briefly following one unmarked car, he said another car boxed him into an alley, and he found himself surrounded by agents, including at least one with his gun drawn.
As the video continues, Maddox pans his phone camera to reveal another agent standing by the passenger-side door with a handgun drawn. Stomping back past the car, the first agent continues his tirade, telling Maddox that he won’t “like the outcome” if he follows the agents.
“You did not learn from what just happened?” the ICE agent asks. “Go home to your kids.” Maddox said he immediately interpreted the question as a threat.
“They’re saying, ‘Get in our way and we’ll shoot you,’” Maddox said. “‘We have immunity, we can do what we want, and you should fear us.’”
Understanding what “learning your lesson” means as a warning goes beyond Maddox. The phrasing has been widely interpreted as a threat by protesters, activists, and advocates on the ground in Minneapolis.
“That’s a veiled threat, 1,000 percent,” Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for the immigrant rights group Unidos Minnesota, told The Intercept. “They can’t exactly say it, but the way they reference Renee Good — they’re using that to strike fear.”
“That’s a veiled threat, 1,000 percent.”
The threats have come amid broader scenes of violence inflicted against protesters in the Twin Cities by roving bands of ICE and Border Patrol agents. Thousands of agents have been deployed in phases by President Donald Trump as part........