FARMINGTON — Nearly three dozen faced freezing rain Friday evening to take part in a candlelight vigil at Meetinghouse Park held in the memory of Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman who was killed Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
People stood shoulder to shoulder on the inside of the park’s gazebo as the rain fell silently and traffic moved steadily down Main Street. Some held electric candles as others took turns relighting wax candles in the slight breeze. A handful of people spoke about the 37-year-old mother of three who died.
One person reflected on how Good had dropped her 6-year-old son off at school Wednesday morning just before she encountered federal immigration agents conducting an operation while she was traveling home.
Good was shot and killed in her car as she attempted to leave after being approached by agents.
Lorri Nandrea and her spouse, Steve Sill, said the senseless violence spurred them to come out to the vigil which spread by word of mouth and social media.
“I am just heartbroken by the ICE murder of Renee Good, who was clearly just trying to stand up for her neighbors,” Nandrea said. “The out of control state violence that allowed that to happen? I think ICE should be abolished.”
Sill noted how the incident was the second in recent months that the agent had been involved with a shooting stemming from an attempted vehicle stop.
“All the different commands she was given at the same time — she was scared for her life and was trying to get out of there,” he said. “Who in their right mind shoots a woman in the face for no reason? She was not trying to kill him. She was trying to get away. It makes me mad.”
Local activist Stryker LeBlanc said his initial reaction to the news — anger, grief, despair — is why he came out to Meetinghouse Park.
“I’m pissed. When this happened, I went through lots of emotions, screaming at the TV, rage-calling my senators,” LeBlanc said. “Then, I just couldn’t sit back and not do something to honor a life cut so short.”
Sarah Mosher said she came out to the vigil for many of the same reasons that others did, but it was the reflection of what she would do in the same situation that sticks with her.
“It could have been me, it would have been me,” Mosher said. “It could have been any one of us. If we don’t stand up now, how many more people?”
Savannah Beaudry said the vigil is a remind that people need to stand up for anyone met with institutional violence.
“Even if we don’t know her, my heart bleeds for her and for everyone else in this country for everything we are going through right now,” Beaudry said. “We have to keep standing up and speaking out, stand louder and prouder than we’ve ever stood before. He’s not going to get away with it, they’re not going to get away with it. Her last name was who she was.”
