Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Sadly, This Isn’t Our First Rodeo
When MPD officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in 2020, it brought unrest, destruction, and chaos. So when ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday, it undeniably hit a raw nerve. But this time, so far, the response has been different, and local sociologist and author Michelle Phelps examines why in this New Republic piece.
“This echoing of traumatic recent history has the city on edge, but it is also revealing how the muscle memory of the summer of 2020 has better prepared everyday residents and city leaders to respond,” she notes.
Nearly six years later, we’re better at organizing and responding, whether that means signing up for legal observer training, using camera phones to capture abuses of power, getting free 3D-printed ICE whistles to resisters, or keeping in touch with neighbors via private chat groups.
Incidentally, Phelps's The Minneapolis Reckoning is an excellent history of the city's police up through the aftermath of the George Floyd murder; Racket's Keith Harris talked to her about it here.
And speaking of showing up for the community, let’s conclude this blurb with a few ways you can do just that:
- There will be an ICE Out Minnesota rally and march on Saturday, January 10, starting at 1 p.m. at the northwest corner of Powderhorn Park (10th Ave. & 32nd St.).
- The Pow Wow Grounds on Franklin Avenue has been activated as a hub for ICE observation and rapid response. They’re looking for supplies and volunteer support; you can find more info on that here.
Fellow Poet Danez Smith Memorializes Renee Nicole Good
Renee Good was an award-winning poet; so is Danez Smith. While the two never met, Smith mourns the loss of another Minnesota artist willing to fight the good fight, and recognizes that the two likely had a lot in common, in this touching eulogy for Bazaar.
Renee, poet to poet, I know you see … no, unfortunately, saw the moment for what it is. The role of us poets is to witness the world, to see with our eyes and souls the delicate threads of truth, past, and possibility around us. With attention as our tool and duty, we turn to grief, to love, to the natural world around us, to our own lives, and to our countries. Poets give what for some may be unutterable for others body, color, and sound. Hard to fool a poet; we see through everything.
You can read the sweet, very tender piece here.
MN Launches Independent Probe Into the Killing of Renee Good
Yesterday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that it had been shut out of a federal investigation into ICE agent Jonathan Ross's killing of Renee Nicole Good. Today, during a morning press conference, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that a local investigation will get underway regardless.
“Let me be clear here: We do have jurisdiction,” said Moriarty, who later noted that “it does not matter that this was a federal law agent.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had previously stated that Minnesota has no jurisdiction, while Vice President JD Vance incorrectly thinks that Ross has total immunity from prosecution.
While the FBI is currently blocking access to critical evidence, like Good’s car and the shell casing from Ross’s gun, Moriarty and Ellison have asked witnesses to submit photos or video taken at the scene of the crime. You can do so here via secure portal.
Let’s Shout Out the Good People Fighting ICE
Look, we try to leave y’all with a warm fuzzy on Friday Flyovers. But that’s real hard to do when our cities are in crisis. Still, there are moments of light in the darkness where the helpers, the righteous, and the brave give us hope.
There’s this security guard at a Minneapolis McDonald’s who is adamant that ICE has no place inside its Golden Arches, whether they’re looking to raid the space or just order a Quarter Pounder.
There's this fearless Uber driver, who is just trying to do his fucking job outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, has guts of steel. We salute him for refusing to answer any questions about himself as ICE agents try to analyze his accent and ask him for his immigration papers.
There’s this guy, who has been showing up to hotels hosting ICE with his entire freaking drum kit, jamming out to ensure no agent gets a good night’s sleep. These folks with a bullhorn and car horns (and possibly the same drum dude?) are also doing a great job.
And finally, this video of ICE agents getting stuck on an icy hill while onlookers refuse to give them a push and a neighbor tells them to “get the fuck outta here” via a bullhorn is also some feel-good stuff, as is this one of two agents falling on the ice.
