Renee Nicole Good – An Avoidable Tragedy

Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an armed law enforcement official when she tried to run him over in her SUV. She was thirty-seven years old. She was a self-described poet, artist and guitar enthusiast which often translates into “unemployed” and maybe “unemployable.” She was a mother of three children although only one child is noted as living with her. She was also an activist with a group that trailed, harassed and interfered with federal law enforcement officers who are seeking to arrest and deport known violent criminals who entered or remained in the United States illegally – an activity in which she was then engaged.

Ms. Good was told by law enforcement officers to stop and get out of the vehicle that was blocking their ongoing police action. When an officer reached to grab the handle and open the door, Ms. Good instead accelerated striking an officer standing in front and to the side of the vehicle. As she accelerated that office who was struck pulled his weapon and fired multiple times striking and killing Ms. Good.

This was a tragedy. Ms. Good did not need to die. Ms. Good, her wife Rebecca Good and the organizers of the protests all had the opportunity to act responsibly and instead acted to inflame an already tense situation between protesters and law enforcement. First Ms. Good could have refrained from driving her car to block the law enforcement action. At that point she had moved well past her Free Speech right and into the area of aiding and abetting and interfering with police action. I have no idea what she was thinking but whatever it was she was wrong. In the aftermath, Rebecca* told the media that they (the protesters) had whistles but the law enforcement officers had guns. Really? Did you think they were carrying the guns for extra ballast to keep them from flying off the face of the spinning earth. Every father worth his salt has had the conversation with their children about what to do when confronted by the police: Keep your mouth shut, obey their commands and do not resist arrest and do not flee an arrest. And why? Because they have guns and all you have is a big mouth.

At about the same time an officer was telling Ms. Good to stop and exit her vehicle while another officer was reaching for the handle to open the door. Ms. Good chose to ignore the command and instead took her foot off the brake and pressed the accelerator. Again, I don’t know what she was thinking but it was wrong. She should have followed the officer’s command and exited the car and that would have been the end of it. If she was afraid of being arrested maybe she shouldn’t have engaged in the interference. Maybe she was told by the people organizing the resistance not to worry that the police were not going to arrest anybody – particularly white women – even if they had big mouths. They were also wrong.

And about that time Rebecca who was immediately adjacent to the SUV and could have coached Ms. Good about the obvious – the officers had guns – but instead was busy running her mouth and telling the officers that if they wanted to arrest them that they had better pack a lunch. In the aftermath Rebecca was heard crying and lamenting that it was “all her (Rebecca’s) fault.” And to a large degree it was because she had the opportunity to calm the situation and, instead, ran her mouth like she was a tough girl or something. She is going to live with that for a long time.

And finally, those who organized and funded these protests knew full well that the opportunity for a deadly confrontation rose exponentially with the frequency and violence of each instance. They knew it would happen and they fully planned to take advantage of the resulting shock and collaborative coverage by the media. Their intention was to force law enforcement to abandon their purpose and their actions. It had worked before and they were sure it would work again. And as a result they did not care who the victim would be but only that there would be one – and that a white woman would be best as evidenced by the overwhelming dominance of stupid** white women fronting these protests.

So, instead of complaining about the injustice of arresting violent illegal aliens, perhaps the protest organizers should  have spent some time reminding them that law enforcement officers carry guns and they only have their big mouths.

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*Since Renee Good and Rebecca Good are both considered wives of each other, for clarity sake I chose to apply the universal courtesy title of Ms. to Renee Good and Rebecca to her wife.

**I say stupid because most of these women have grown up in a culture that disdains men striking women. So much so, that they have come to believe that the violence around them will not effect them directly because men are not supposed to strike women. I like and encourage that supposition, but I would add that such a supposition only goes so far and if you promote violence it will likely bite you in the derriere as it did Ms. Good.