Republican Congressman: 'I Do not Feel Bad' for U.S. Mother of Three Killed by ICE

Randy Fine dismissed the killing of Renée Nicole Good, calling the shooting justified.

By Brian Daitzman

One day after Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot in the head and killed during an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, GOP Representative Randy Fine of Florida appeared on Newsmax and said he did not feel bad.

“I do not feel bad for the woman that was involved,” Mr. Fine said, adding that “if you impede the actions of our law enforcement … you get what’s coming to you.”

A Republican member of Congress, Mr. Fine described the shooting as “completely justified,” despite the fact that no court or jury has ruled on whether the agent’s use of lethal force was lawful. He warned that “more Americans will die if they impede law enforcement,” remarks that intensified national outrage and focused attention on how elected officials have publicly characterized the killing.

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”
— James Baldwin, LIFE magazine profile (May 24, 1963)

During the interview, Mr. Fine framed Ms. Good’s death as a deterrent rather than as a loss of life, language that drew criticism as the investigation into the shooting remained ongoing.

Ms. Good was a United States citizen, a lifelong Minnesota resident and the mother of three children. She was killed on Jan. 7 during a federal immigration enforcement operation in a residential area of south Minneapolis.

The shooting was captured on multiple videos reviewed by The New York Times and other news organizations. The footage shows Ms. Good seated inside her sport utility vehicle as several officers cluster around it. As she attempts to maneuver the vehicle away, shots are fired. The videos reviewed by journalists do not show Ms. Good’s vehicle striking an agent at the moment the fatal shot was fired, according to The Times.

Federal authorities have not released body-camera footage or a detailed timeline of the agent’s actions.