ICE agent made vile ‘lesbian’ slur about Renee Nicole Good after her killing, protester alleges
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent made a vile slur about Renee Nicole Good as he took a Minneapolis protester into custody, the demonstrator has claimed.
Patty O’Keefe, 36, and a friend were taken into ICE custody Sunday for ‘impeding operations’ after they followed officers who were driving around and making arrests.
The agents stopped in front of O’Keefe’s car, fired pepper spray through her windshield vent, smashed her windows and dragged her out of her car.
She was hurled into a federal vehicle with three ICE agents who she alleged ‘taunted, mocked’ and called her ‘ugly’ as they drove her to the B.H. Whipple federal detention center in nearby St Paul.
‘On that same ride, one of the agents said: “You guys gotta stop obstructing us. That’s why that lesbian b***h is dead,” she told Heartland Signal. The identity of the ICE agent who issued the remark has not been revealed.
The alleged remark appears to be a direct reference to the killing of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot in the head last week by ICE officer Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ross in front of her partner Becca Good.
O’Keefe described the officer’s remarks as a ‘shocking, bigoted, [and] deeply dehumanizing thing to hear.’ She added: ‘I think it’s important though that people know that this is what agents are saying.’
She and her friend Brandon Sigüenza, who was also detained by agents, were let go by Sunday evening without charges.
As they left the detention facility, they said they were again hit with chemical agents officers were using on protesters in the area.
Patty O’Keefe, 36, taken into ICE custody Sunday for ‘impeding operations’ after she and a friend followed officers who were driving around and making arrests.
O’Keefe claims that during her arrest an ICE agent made a direct comment about Renee Nicole Good, seen moments before she was shot dead. The agent allegedly told O’Keefe: ‘You guys gotta stop obstructing us. That’s why that lesbian b**** is dead’
Good was shot dead on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ross in Minneapolis
O’Keefe and Sigüenza, both Minneapolis residents, have been monitoring immigration officers’ actions during the Trump administration’s latest crackdown.
The pair allege that during their detainment, they were held in distressing conditions, denied phone calls, and pressured to rat out protest organizers and people living in the country illegally.
They were put in adjacent cells reserved for US citizens, one for men and the other for women. Each cell was also being used for other detainees and was no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet with a concrete bench, flat-screen TV, two-way mirror and surveillance camera.
On their way to the cells, the pair – who are both American citizens – saw other detainees who were screaming and wailing for help, though most were dejectedly staring at the ground, they said.
In one instance, they observed a woman who was trying to use a toilet while three male agents watched.
They alleged that the overwhelming majority of detainees were Hispanic men, though some were East African – Minnesota is home to the country’s largest Somali community.
‘From my cell, I could hear wailing and desperate crying of people in the facility,’ she told CBS News.
She said the ‘visceral pain’ of detainees at B.H. Whipple was ‘awful’ and apparent. ‘And then you juxtapose that with the laughter we heard from the actual agents. It was very surreal and kind of shocking.’
O’Keefe claimed that during her arrest on Sunday, ICE agents fired pepper spray through the windshield vent of her car, smashed her windows and dragged her out of the vehicle
Glass littered the floor and the front seat of O’Keefe’s car after the driver’s side window was smashed in by an ICE agent
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside the B.H. Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Thursday. This is the detention center where O’Keefe and her friend Brandon Sigüenza were held on Sunday evening
Sigüenza said one of his cellmates had a cut on his head and the other had an injured toe, but neither was offered medical help. Their requests for water or to go to the bathroom outside their cells were also ignored, he said.
O’Keefe and Sigüenza were able to speak with lawyers, but only Sigüenza allowed to make a phone call – he called his wife.
Sigüenza, who is Hispanic, said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigator who questioned him Sunday even offered him money or legal protection if he gave up the names of organizers or neighbors who are in the country illegally.
‘At one point, the officer said in vague terms that it looks like I´m in trouble, and he could possibly help me out,’ Sigüenza told AP.
But he said he refused the offer, noting that he doesn’t have any family members without legal status.
The conditions at immigration detention facilities around the country have been the subject of complaints, including a lawsuit over the one that served as the Chicago-area’s operational hub that resulted in a judge’s oversight visit and an order to improve conditions.
The Daily Mail has approached the DHS and ICE for comment on the allegations outlined by O’Keefe and Sigüenza.
Immigration authorities have previously defended the conditions in DHS facilities, saying detainees are fed and their medical concerns are addressed.
They’ve also trumpeted the success of the immigration crackdowns, saying they’ve led to the arrests of thousands of people who are in the country illegally.
Renee Good was shot three times in the face at a protest in Minneapolis and died at the scene
Witnesses have said Good and her partner Rebecca (seen moments before the shooting) were acting as legal observers and filming the protest that day
Rebecca, in a harrowing video captured at the scene, admitted that she encouraged her wife to confront agents. She said: ‘I made her come down here, it’s my fault’
O’Keefe and Sigüenza believe their detention was meant to intimidate them and others critics of the immigration crackdown.
She told CBS that despite the arrest, they will continue protesting. ‘We know there’s some risk and it’s worth it,’ she added.
FBI investigators are conducting a thorough inquiry into the fatal shooting of Good, although sources close to the investigation suggested that Officer Ross is ‘increasingly unlikely’ to face criminal charges.
The civil rights division of the Department of Justice, which typically investigates police-involved shootings, has not opened a probe into whether Ross violated Good’s rights under federal law, an insider told The New York Times.
Federal investigators are reportedly investigating Good’s possible connections with activist groups protesting the immigration crackdown.
The DOJ is reportedly planning to look into a wide group of activists who took part in a Minneapolis neighborhood ICE watch activities, believing they were ‘instigators’ of the shooting.
It remains unclear whether Good was involved in any activism in Minneapolis beyond participating in the protest against ICE actions on the day that she was killed.
Good’s family has hired Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin, which represented George Floyd’s family, to conduct a civil investigation into the deadly shooting.
O’Keefe believes her arrest was meant to intimidate her and anti-ICE activisits. But she said that despite the incident, she will continue to protest. ‘We know there’s some risk and it’s worth it’
The firm – which helped secure a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family – said it will release information in the coming weeks.
Similarly, Ross has sought legal counsel from attorney and Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel.
The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defense while standing in front of Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward.
That explanation has been panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
