Wife of Minneapolis woman killed by ICE speaks out for the first time

Update: ICE agent shooter’s own cellphone video undercuts Trump administration's account of Minneapolis killing

The wife of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, the 37-year-old mother and poet fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in south Minneapolis on Wednesday, is speaking publicly for the first time, offering a devastating, deeply personal account of the life behind a killing that has ignited national outrage.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

In a statement released through Minnesota Public Radio on Friday, Becca Good described her wife as a caring, generous person. “Above all else, she was kind,” Good wrote. “In fact, kindness radiated out of her.”

She portrayed Renee as a woman guided by faith, compassion, and an unwavering belief in shared humanity. “Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow,” she wrote, adding that her wife believed people are here “to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.”

Related: Shocking video shows ICE agent fatally shooting woman in south Minneapolis

Related: Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting

The couple had recently moved to Minneapolis, seeking stability and a sense of belonging. “We chose Minnesota to make our home,” Becca Good wrote, recalling their road trip and the sense of community they found upon arrival. Minneapolis became the place where she said she had “finally found peace and safe harbor.”

That peace ended on Wednesday, when Renee was shot during a federal ICE operation near 34th Street and Portland Avenue. Federal officials, from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have said the shooting was justified. They claim Renee Good was trying to run an agent over with her car and that he had to shoot her to protect himself and others. Video of the shooting, local leaders, eyewitnesses, and civil rights advocates all dispute that account, which triggered protests and demands for transparency.

Related: ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has been identified

Related: LGBTQ+ officials denounce ICE killing of Minneapolis woman, demand investigation

Becca Good wrote that she and Renee had stopped that morning to support neighbors. “We had whistles. They had guns.”

Renee leaves behind three children. The youngest, Becca wrote, “is just six years old and already lost his father.” She said she is now left to raise their son while continuing to teach him the values Renee embodied — that compassion must prevail over fear and anger.

In closing, Becca Good asked that her wife be remembered for rejecting hate and choosing compassion. “We honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love.”