By now millions of people have watched the moment an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
Good’s defenders — including city and state leaders — call what happened Jan. 7 an unjustified attack, while federal authorities say the agent was acting in self-defense. Already her death has become a lightning rod in an already tense and divided nation.
But whatever Good was trying to do in the middle of an immigration enforcement operation that was not welcomed by the city, she was more than the last seconds of her life.
Her mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that Good lived with her partner in Minneapolis and was a compassionate woman who “cared for people her whole life.”
“She was loving, forgiving and affectionate,” Ganger told the paper. “He was an amazing human being.”
Although most of them had never heard Good’s name before Wednesday, hundreds of people attended a vigil in Good’s honor hours after the shooting, chanting over and over, “Say her name! Renee Good! Say her name! Renee Good!”
As Minneapolis and ICE grapple with the national spotlight on the standoff that killed Good and the firestorm that followed, USA TODAY works to find out who Good was and what drove her to what would become the site of her death.
Here’s what we know so far.
What else do we know about Renee Nicole Good?
The Star Tribune reported that Good was the mother of a 6-year-old child, citing Timmy Ray Macklin, the father of Good’s ex-husband.
A GoFundMe that USA TODAY is working to verify says the donated funds will go to Good’s wife and son “as they deal with the devastating loss of their wife and mother. It describes Good as ‘pure sunshine, pure love.’
On her Instagram account, Good describes herself as a “poet and writer, wife and mother and guitar player from Colorado” who was “experiencing Minneapolis.”
What do we know about why Good was in immigration enforcement?
There are few details about what Good was doing at the immigration operation.
The Minneapolis City Council said in a statement to NPR that Good was “looking out for her neighbors” when the confrontation occurred.
The Minnesota Republic’s Ilhan Omar described Good as a “legal observer.” Legal observers often attend police actions to document and monitor the behavior of law enforcement – a common practice used by activists from the Black Panthers in the 1960s and 1970s to Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
A LinkedIn profile that appears to be Good’s lists her as working in real estate investment and real estate management and renovation.
Good’s mother, Ganger, told the Tribune that her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all,” referring to the protesters who obstructed ICE agents. She said her daughter was “probably terrified.”
Vigil held in honor of Renee Nicole Good
About 1,000 people attended a vigil in freezing temperatures Wednesday night to honor Renee Nicole Good.
“We are here today because this is a profound tragedy for Renee and her loved ones and her family,” Minnesota state representative Aisha Gomez said.
Erin Stene, a community organizer in Minneapolis, said people are expected to stay at the scene “as long as necessary.”
“I think people are grieving and processing,” Stene said. “I think people will be here as long as it takes.”
A person places a flower at the site where a woman was allegedly shot and killed by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 7, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minn. According to federal officials, the agent, “fearing for his life,” killed a woman during a confrontation in south Minneapolis.
City, state officials defend Renee Nicole Good
State Representative Leigh Finke said in a statement obtained by the New York Times that Good was a cherished Minnesotan and a “beloved and celebrated community member who has now been removed from her family.”
City Mayor Jacob Frey said he was “deeply sorry” to Good’s family.
“There are no words to make this moment better,” he said. “Our hearts go out to you.”
Contributed by Corey Schmidt, St. Cloud Times, part of the USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who was Renee Nicole Good? What we know about the woman killed by ICE