As the East Bay Syndicalists, we condemn and mourn the murders of legal observers Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti that were viciously perpetrated by federal agents in Minneapolis in January 2026. These extrajudicial executions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers, which arguably both amount to second-degree murder, speak to the Trump regime’s aggressive incitement of brutality and impunity among its immigration agents, whose numerous crimes against humanity targeting undocumented workers, families, and minors now include the assassination of white working-class activists.
Good was a queer Christian supporter of immigrants who was doing her duty to keep the ICE thugs in check during so-called “Operation Metro Surge.” Specifically, in the minutes before her death on January 7th, 2026, she was using her car to block and draw attention to an ongoing ethnic-cleansing operation being spearheaded by ICE. Her sudden death at the hands of ICE agent Jonathan Ross was clearly defined by intent to inflict grave bodily damage, given Ross’s sudden decision to escalate to deadly force by shooting Good multiple times as she drove away from him. Either way, established Department of Justice policy requires officers to get out of the way of moving cars like Renee’s. For Ross to wear a face-mask during this violation of civil rights and arbitrary killing only encourages similar crimes to be committed by federal agents in the future. Good was a mother of three, and her widow, parents, and siblings are extremely bereaved.
Likewise, Pretti was a registered nurse who worked in the Intensive Care Unit at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration. When he intervened to protect a fellow legal observer against an aggressive CBP agent on the streets of Minneapolis on January 24th, 2026, he was quickly forced to the ground by a gang of CBP agents, and summarily shot and executed. Just as the ICE agents did by preventing a self-identified physician from attending to the critically injured Good, CBP officers blocked an EMT from providing Pretti with immediate, emergent medical attention. Without a doubt, such delays in care minimized the possibility that either shooting victim would survive.
These blatant murders have created a vast outpouring of anger and further discredit on ICE and the Trump regime. They have inspired lamentations by Bruce Springsteen and U2. Following her opportunistic accusations of “domestic terrorism” against Pretti and Good, besides serious charges of corruption and mismanagement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been the first cabinet member to be fired in Trump 2.0. Even California Governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominee Gavin Newsom has been calling for Nuremberg-style trials for Noem, “border czar” Tom Homan, and the rest of the MAGA regime.
Clearly, the Trump regime has obstructed justice here. The FBI has asserted jurisdiction over both cases, and, under Kash Patel’s direction, ensured that no federal investigation be allowed to proceed into Good’s murder. Still, the regime has actually moderated its stance on Pretti’s case, perhaps due to a combination of a heterosexism that values Pretti over Good, a recognition of the collective power of nurses, and/or an interest in damage control: after all, Pretti’s killers were placed on leave in late February, and the civil rights investigation that was denied in Good’s case has been launched into that of Pretti. Knowing the Trump regime, though, this process may just end up whitewashing Pretti’s killers from CBP, in the interest of saving face.
In light of the sharp escalation of brutality toward workers at home and abroad—the latter crystallized in Trump’s latest blundering into a devastating war with Iran—the labor movement needs to think about large-scale walk-outs and the revival of defense committees. Besides demanding the prosecution of Good and Pretti’s murderers, we agree with the following demands set forth in a statement by Teamsters Mobilize on Good’s killing:
- “Full citizenship for all people and their families who come to this country to work […];
- Complete and equal extension of all workplace rights and protections […];
- An end to the ‘shock and awe’ raids and deportation campaigns […]”
Justice for Renee Good and Alex Pretti!
Abolish ICE!
For workers’ self-management of production in a world of environmental sustainability!