Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday in Minneapolis. She is the second person killed after the Trump administration unleashed masked, armed, and increasingly unaccountable federal forces upon U.S. cities.

Unless the government immediately changes course, she will not be the last.

Several videos posted to social media show the deadly encounter. If you believe your eyes, Good was fatally shot as she attempted to drive away from agents who were yelling obscenities at her and violently trying to open her vehicle’s door.

If you believe the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Good was part of a group of “violent rioters” who “weaponized her vehicle” and tried to “run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.” Good, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, was engaged in an act of “domestic terrorism.”

The stark disconnect is telling. The administration’s reflexive lying is emblematic of the moral rot at the heart of President Donald Trump’s militarized mass deportation efforts. It reflects a worldview where all immigrants are criminals, and all dissenters are rioters or terrorists.

By all accounts, Good was neither. She was a mother, a neighbor, a self-described poet, writer, and poor guitar player. In death, she joins Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Chicago resident who was killed by ICE in September during a similar incident. The Mexican immigrant was shot in the neck shortly after he dropped off one of his children at school and another at daycare.

These deaths were as preventable as they were foreseeable.

In her Nov. 20 ruling ordering federal agents to limit aggressive tactics in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis wrote that “agents have used excessive force in response to protesters’ and journalists’ exercise of their First Amendment rights, without justification, often without warning, and even at those who had begun to comply with agents’ orders.”

Dozens of videos, from cities around the nation, have shown federal agents engaging in violent behavior during their enforcement duties. Any one of those incidents could have turned deadly. That more people have not been killed in the administration’s reckless and ill-advised efforts can best be attributed to providence.

Reported close calls in California include Border Patrol agents smashing windows and firing on a truck as it drove away during a traffic stop, a man who claimed he wanted to warn agents there were children nearby was shot in the back by an ICE agent, and a TikTok streamer was shot as ICE agents smashed his car window.

In Chicago, a woman was shot multiple times after she allegedly rammed the vehicle of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent. The charges against her were dismissed in the face of glaring inconsistencies in the government’s story.

On Thursday, a day after Good’s killing, two people were reportedly shot by Border Patrol agents in Portland, Ore., after a vehicle stop. DHS once again claimed the driver “weaponized his vehicle” and attempted to run over the agents.

The conduct of too many federal agents involved in immigration enforcement not only violates the norms of decency and order but also goes against the various agencies’ use-of-force policies and rights enshrined in the Constitution.

All of that is meaningless, however, to an administration that has repeatedly shown disdain for the law and which has overtly condoned violence as an acceptable response to nonviolent behavior.

It may be too late for Congress to use its power of the purse to rein in these out-of-control agencies. Republicans have already given the president $30 billion to recruit thousands more ICE agents, even as hiring requirements are lowered and training time is reduced — a recipe for disaster.

Legislators not in thrall to the Trump administration must use every oversight opportunity they can muster to shine the spotlight on abuse and hold rogue officials accountable.

Local and state governments must lawfully push back and protect their residents — including investigating and charging federal law enforcement with crimes. In the Good case, the former is already proving to be a challenge, as Minnesota’s attorney general notes that state law enforcement officials are being pushed aside, and that the investigation will be conducted solely by the FBI.

Even as the president puts his thumb on the scales, the courts must stand firm and uphold the law.

And in communities across the country, everyday Americans like Renee Nicole Good must continue to peacefully exercise and defend our civil rights against those who would use fear and intimidation to gain control. The risk has never been greater, but the stakes have never been higher.

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