Hundreds gather at Nashville vigil to mark death of Renee Good

Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Nashville for the woman shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday by an ICE agent. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Hundreds gathered in Nashville’s Centennial Park to mark the violent death of Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was killed Wednesday by an ICE agent on a residential Minneapolis street in view of horrified onlookers.

Thursday’s candlelight vigil was at least the third event held in Nashville to honor Good a day after her killing was captured in widely circulated videos. Scores of similar vigils and protests took place across the nation. 

“We grieve with them as they grieve the loss of a neighbor and loved one,” Rev. Eric Mailey, pastor of Edgehill United Methodist Church, told the crowd gathered after sunset.  “No matter where you are, everyone deserves to be safe.”

But like others who spoke at the Nashville vigil – among them, faith and community leaders, and immigrant advocates  – Mailey called Good’s death an act of political violence and laid blame on the Trump administration for “perpetuating and normalizing” terror on the nation’s streets.

“Until we get them out of our communities, the violence will continue to escalate,” he said. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has characterized Good’s death as the result of a justifiable and defensive shooting. In a post on X, the department accused Good of being a domestic terrorist who “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to run down ICE agents. 

But the Trump administration has provided no support for its allegations of domestic terrorism against Good, and bystander video appears to contradict its claims of how the incident unfolded. 

Elected officials in Tennessee also weighed in Thursday. 

U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis, called the incident “deeply disturbing.”  

Cohen said the incident “raises serious concerns for communities like Memphis,” where hundreds of outside law enforcement officers, including ICE agents and the Tennessee National Guard, were dispatched on the president’s orders to “restore law and order.”

State Rep. Justin Pearson, also a Memphis Democrat, called Good’s death “horrifying, tragic and a direct consequence of the authoritarian policies of the Trump administration.”

“This is what happens when our government chooses to intimidate its people and treat entire communities like suspects under the guise of ‘restoring order,’” he said. 

In a statement on X, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, called upon Americans to “pray for our ICE patriots.”

“If you put an ICE agent in mortal danger, self-defense is JUSTIFIED,” he wrote.

Thursday’s vigil was organized by the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, Nashville Indivisible, SEUI Local 205, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, Conexion Americas, Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors and others.