MINNEAPOLIS – After peaceful observer Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, an organization that mobilizes 2,300 rabbis and cantors nationally, responded by condemning the killing and calling for accountability and justice and an end to ICE brutality.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“Baruch Dayan HaEmet. We condemn the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and we pray for her son, her partner, and her friends and family. This heinous act violates our most fundamental values, and we refuse to accept that this is business as usual.
“We are horrified by the administration’s attempts to spin this story and deny the culpability of ICE. We trust the evidence we have seen with our own eyes: An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good without any reason. Before this incident, we had seen a surge in ICE brutality, including shootings. It is clear that when it comes to ICE operations, violence is not a mere aberration but their mandate. ICE makes us and our communities less safe, and we must get them off our streets.
“This week, Jews begin reading the Book of Exodus, with the story of our ancestors’ enslavement in a land that had once welcomed them. We know the vulnerability of being gerim (‘strangers’ or ‘immigrants’), and remember how quickly those in power can turn to violence in order to scapegoat and oppress a minority population. This core narrative compels us to take action for justice for immigrants today.
“T’ruah rabbis and cantors, including in Minneapolis/St. Paul, as well as other members of our Jewish community, have been making the choice to stand with immigrants against ICE brutality because we know it is the right thing to do. Though President Trump has dishonestly and maliciously tried to slander Renee’s character, we know that in fact she was a shining example — a person of conscience living her values. May her memory be a blessing.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.