People gathered at the Opera House Square in Oshkosh on Jan. 8 to participate in a candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good, 37, a U.S. citizen fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minnesota on Jan. 7.
Despite the rain, wind and nearly freezing temperatures, the Oshkosh community, equipped with umbrellas, candles and a few protest signs, came to the commemoration for the Minnesotan woman.
Among the vigil attendees were current and incoming UW Oshkosh students, community members from the Fox Valley area, a Winnebago county elected official and others who wanted to stand in solidarity with Good.
Mike Krueger, a semi-retired citizen of Oshkosh who spends his free time protesting in the city, said he came to the vigil to show his support.
“[I came] because it’s the right thing to do to show concern and human compassion for the loss of life [from] something that didn’t have to happen,” Krueger said.
Steve Eliasen, a Milwaukee-native who spent most of his career as an advertising photographer in Appleton and is currently an executive director at International Youth Sailing Oshkosh, said he joined the vigil to remember and pray for Good.
“The least little tiny bit I can do is stand out here in the rain and cold with a light and [for] just an hour of silence,” Eliasen said.
When vigil participants learned the news from Minnesota the day before the gathering at Opera House Square, some said they felt sadness and anger, while others said they had expected something like this to happen.
An incoming UWO student and a member of the Youth and Democratic Socialists of America, Leo Nelson, who plans to be a high school teacher, said that after reading the news he was not surprised.
“I was kind of like ‘okay, this is, you know, disgusting but it’s not surprising,’” he said. “Seeing from the behavior that ICE has … displayed towards thousands and thousands of people within the United States, it’s only a matter of time before this happens again.”
Nelson said that people at the vigil are upset not only because one woman was killed but also because of the system that let it happen.
“People are here today because they are upset and they are heartbroken at the loss of not only one individual but also the system that continues to protect people who are committing these … atrocities,” he said.
After the fatal incident in Minnesota, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that Good weaponized her vehicle against law enforcement, describing it as “domestic terrorism.”
“The ICE officer, fearing for his life and the other officers around him, in the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” Noem said during a press conference on Jan. 8. “He used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues.”
Sara MacDonald, Winnebago County Board-elect, said that there was no reason for Good to be shot because she was “slowly moving away.”
“It helps that we have those videos because there is no way that that was self-defense,” MacDonald said. “Just because somebody is driving away does not mean that you shoot them.”
MacDonald said that all elected officials need to know that people are angry about the situation.
“Call your elected officials and make sure that they know how angry we are about this,” she said. “But we need all elected officials whether Democrats, Republicans [and] Independent[s]. They all need to stand up against this.”
According to Indivisible, nationwide demonstrations sparked last weekend with at least 1,000 events held across the U.S. to demand accountability from ICE.
“A Candlelight Vigil” was organized by “Peaceful Patriots,” a nonpartisan group that provides a venue for rallies in the Fox Valley and Northeast Wisconsin, with a mission to spread awareness to the public and representatives.
