We're here again.
Almost six years after former police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, this city sits on a tinder box of sorrow and outrage. And activism.
It has a new face. With all the same pain. The victim is a White woman this time. Her name is Renee Nicole Good. She was 37. And a mother of three children.
"We are completely retraumatized – people are deeply retraumatized," former Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins said. "It's like literally the same people, just six blocks from where George Floyd was murdered. It's the same community, the same people, and the whole city."
Good was fatally shot in her car on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer . It happened not far from where Floyd was killed.
Good was a volunteer in a network of "neighborhood patrols" that organized local activists to track, monitor and record ICE operations in Minneapolis.
Things have changed since the days after George Floyd's murder. There haven't been fiery and destructive protests. But the heart of the city is once again broken.
"It's just been relentless and people are exhausted," Jenkins told me. "But seemingly we are really committed to fighting and pushing back on this invasion. Because it really does feel like an invasion. There are more federal agents here than local police."
Homeland Security SecretaryKristi Noemcharacterized Good's actions as "domestic terrorism." Hours after the shooting, Noem said the officer shot Good in self-defense and claimed Good attempted to hit the agents with her car.
Video appears toshow Good's vehicle turning away from the officer who fired the fatal shots – one at the front windshield and two more through the open driver's side window. All shots appear to have been fired as Good's car passed the agent.
See ICE protests around country sparked after Minnesota shooting death
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded to the administration's portrayal, expressing it with an expletive: "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bull- - - -."
Yet U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement there was "no basis" for an investigation.
'Keep fighting against injustice'
I spent two months embedded in Minneapolis during the Chauvin trial. My assignment was to tell the story of the city; to get to know its residents, activists and political leaders; and to write about how Floyd's murder changed not only the fabric of Minneapolis, but also the country.
In the wake of Good's death, I wanted to revisit some of these people, some of their experiences and motivation.
It was justice for their community then, and it's still justice now.
"People are trying to move in a much more deliberate way," community activist Anthony Taylor told me. "I am in all of these communities so I know the people impacted. It's a very odd kind of reality. I don't consider myself at risk, but I know people one-degree from me who are at risk. Because our cultural ethos is we believe we can do it – we can keep fighting against injustice."
Good's wife, Becca Good, said in a statement that the couple had "stopped to support our neighbors," adding, "We had whistles. They had guns."
"Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow," Becca Good said in her statement.
"Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole."
These neighborhoods, these residents, have a legacy of activism. I saw it. I talked with them about it in 2020. I continue to do so. They are highly responsive when they believe someone has been unjustly killed. Or abused by law enforcement.
"The global response to George Floyd only happens if it happens in Minneapolis," Taylor said. "People here are still shocked by that murder. They are shocked and they believe they can accomplish something by marching, by protesting. It's a communal response."
One that has shifted from the alleged anger and violence so many opponents wanted to portray. These Minneapolis people were enraged in 2020. And they remain so. But they also have learned justice comes with measure.
"The protests are more disciplined," Taylor told me. "The new organizers are organized. After the George Floyd murder and response, something was incited. People are trying to move in a much more deliberate way.
"This is not rioting," Taylor continued. "This is a response, with a very clear intention around the protection of our community members and the obligation we all have to keep them safe."
Suzette Hackney is a national columnist. Reach her on X:@suzyscribe
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Retraumatized' after George Floyd, activists march for Renee Good
