Mr Warren Amerine Stephens
Embassy of the United States of America
13 January 2026
Dear Mr Stephens,
I was unable to attend the candlelight vigil for Renee Good at your embassy on January 12th. Had I been younger and in better health I would have been there to honour Renee’s memory and share the community’s grief.
For over twenty years, I dedicated my professional life to immigration enforcement, working in roles that required judgment, restraint, and respect for human dignity. In that time, we enforced the law without ever resorting to lethal force. None of us ever went to work with our faces covered. I believe in the rule of law and in the obligation of law-enforcement professionals to protect all lives, uphold the law and respect the rights of the individual.
Like many, I have been horrified by the death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother and artist whose life was senselessly cut short during an ICE operation in Minneapolis. Her killing has sparked widespread sorrow and outrage across the country as communities seek answers and accountability.
What has made this tragedy even more painful is the series of deliberate misrepresentations and outright lies put forward by the federal administration in the immediate aftermath and since. Claims that Renee posed an imminent threat or was acting as a “domestic terrorist” stand in stark contrast to eyewitness accounts and the video evidence, widely shared online and reported in the press. The administration is asking us to ignore what we can see with our own eyes in favour of a bent and twisted narrative. This was not self defence – it was murder. The administration shows no remorse, no reflection, no empathy, no compassion, no humanity, no cooperation.
The conduct of ICE agent Jonathan Ross — unjustified use of deadly force against a US citizen — has rightfully drawn anger and disgust from community members, activists, and local officials alike. All of the proper analysis so far shows clearly that Ross was not following his training and that he and his colleagues were acting well outside their remit as immigration officials in trying to exercise authority they do not possess. They have no lawful power to stop a vehicle without either a warrant or reasonable suspicion of an immigration violation. Neither of these applied, and it’s clear from publicly available material that this is not an isolated incident and that ICE agents are regularly exceeding their authority in threatening and intimidating US citizens who are exercising their lawful and constitutional rights.
What is truly beyond the pale and utterly disgusting is the behaviour of ICE agents immediately following Renee’s murder. Ross is condemned by his own video. Renee’s last words to him were “I’m not mad at you” – his last words to her were “Fucking Bitch”. There is also clear evidence that a doctor sought to give aid to Renee. He was refused, even after identifying himself as a physician, with the words “I don’t care”. I have seen careers ended for far, far less than this, and if anyone on one of my teams had displayed anything remotely like such callous indifference I would have escorted them to the disciplinary board myself.
The loss of life in these circumstances should prompt full transparency and accountability, not evasions or spin.
My heart goes out to Renee’s loved ones, especially her wife and children. No family should have to endure such a loss, and I share in the community’s demand for clarity, justice, and reforms that prevent unnecessary deaths during enforcement operations.
I do not particularly want a response to this. I appreciate that you are duty bound to follow the line set out by the administration and I have no wish to humiliate you by asking you to defend their institutional mendacity . My purpose is just to remind you that the rest of the world is watching.
Yours sincerely