Great Barrington — On Wednesday, January 7, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Minneapolis, Minn., resident Renee Good.
As shown in several cell phone videos posted online, Good, 37, was in her SUV, which was parked on the street, when various ICE activities were taking place throughout the neighborhood. ICE agents approached Good in the SUV and, according to various reports, gave Good conflicting orders.
According to media reports and as seen in videos of the incident posted on social media, Good started to drive away, but Ross fired three shots at close range at Good.
After she was shot, Good’s SUV continued driving forward before crashing into a light pole and a parked car.
Good was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
In various interviews, President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Vice President JD Vance all defended the actions of Ross.
While Noem claims Good tried to run Ross over with her car, multiple cell phone videos of the incident contradict that narrative.
Leaders in the Democratic Party and in Minnesota have called for a criminal investigation into the incident.
Good’s death has sparked protests across the nation against ICE and the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
On Saturday, January 10, 20 people gathered in front of Great Barrington Town Hall to protest Good’s death, the continuing actions of ICE agents, and the Trump administration.
Great Barrington resident Eileen Lawlor held a sign that read: “We the people reject kings, dictators, and tyrants.” “I am here because I lived through Kent State, and I’ll never forget that,” she told The Berkshire Edge, referring to the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guard troops shot and killed four student protesters demonstrating against the Vietnam War.
“I was a teenager when that happened, and for three days I wore a sign around my neck that said, ‘I wonder what it’s like to die,'” Lawlor said. “I didn’t speak for three days because it was so impactful. When Renee was killed, point-blank, I flashed back to Kent State. I think we all have to push and push and not give up and despair. We have to show up to say that this is not OK and we have to get ICE out.”
Ashley Falls resident Julie Chamberlain held a sign reading: “Fascism is no mystery if you know world history.” “It just seems like we haven’t learned lessons from what we have been through, especially with what we have been through since World War II,” Chamberlain said. “We need to reach out to people on the other side and hopefully have them recognize the morality in their hearts. What is happening is not moral.”
“It’s just so sad that we are in a country where we are on the verge of losing our democracy and our freedom,” Alford resident Julius Wool, who held a sign during the protest that said, “Justice for Renee.”
“If you come out and you stand up for something that you believe in, you could be murdered by police and quasi-military forces. The fact that these military forces are on the streets of our cities is intimidating and threatening. To me, that’s the end of democracy.”
By chance, the protest coincided with a ceremony at Town Hall commemorating the 250th anniversary of Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery. “Just 250 years ago, we won our democracy and our liberty,” Wool said. “We’re going to be celebrating that this year, yet here we are probably closer to losing that democracy and freedom than ever before, maybe since the Civil War. It’s a really scary time, and I just think all of us who believe in freedom and democracy have to come out and stand up for what is right and against what is wrong. The murder of this innocent young woman is wrong, and we should stand up against this.”
Mill River resident Carolyn Zablotny’s sign read: “Jesus was a migrant.” “Christmas has just passed, and I think it’s important to assert in this time where immigrants are so defiled and defamed that Jesus himself was a migrant,” she said. “I think we need an awareness to increase a deeper appreciation and understanding of people’s plights, where they’re not vilified. We need to come together and affirm that we are all one. I think we need to appreciate and affirm human dignity and solidarity with one another.”
ICE carried out multiple enforcement actions in Berkshire County in 2025:
- March 23, 2025: “ICE sightings at Allendale Plaza in Pittsfield“
- March 24, 2025: “Pittsfield resident arrested as part of ICE operations, 370 arrested throughout Massachusetts“
- May 6, 2025: “ICE agents in Great Barrington“
- May 30, 2025: “Stalked and Abducted: Federal ICE agents grab a local gardener from his job site in Great Barrington“
- June 10, 2025: “Another Great Barrington resident taken by ICE agents“
