I am essentially at a loss for words about the killing of Reneé Nicole Good. This is a wrenching, grievous moment — of course especially for those close to Good, and for those who were eye witnesses, and for the citizens of Minneapolis, and also for all of us as Americans. 

I do not want to use the word “tragedy,” which can imply unavoidable or “fated” catastrophe. It is very clear that this was avoidable and that nothing about this killing was fated.

“Atrocity” would be a better term. We have all had access to numerous videos and analyses. I am not going to rehearse the analyses or discuss the shooting as such, other than to say that I believe it is an atrocity.

I do want to say that what I have seen around this is a great deal of additional evil.

• It is evil that ICE agents refused to allow a physician to give aid to Ms. Good; it is evil that they did not attempt to render first aid, as they are procedurally required to do; it is evil that they failed to bring in their own medic team.
• It is evil that Kristi Noem immediately labeled Good a “domestic terrorist” and lied to the American people that the shooting officer had followed standard procedure in order to protect his own life. DHS policy expressly prohibits firing into a vehicle under the exact circumstances we have seen here.
• It is evil that J.D. Vance dismissed Good’s murder as a “tragedy she brought on herself” and blamed the “tragedy” on a “vast left-wing conspiracy” that has supposedly placed ICE agents under constant threat. 
• It is evil that Trump, despite being shown video by NYT reporters that appear to contradict his statements, doubled down on his claim that Good “acted horribly” and tried to run over the ICE officer.
• It is evil that the first impulse of various Fox News anchors was to dismiss Good as a person “who had pronouns” in her email signature, the idea being that she is “one of those” and ergo, it seems, her death is not to be regretted.

Increasingly, evil is the point of the Trump administration and its propaganda machine. Stephen Miller might “dress it up” as “power,” but none of this is exercise of power in any morally legitimate sense.  We the people are under attack.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat has an excellent post on this, “Reneé Nicole Good, Enemy of the State.” She writes: 

“Good could not be seen as a life worth saving. This is a blunt statement, but it is important to understand what we are dealing with. This is where dehumanization leads. It starts with those who are the targets of many autocrats, such as non-Whites, immigrants, Muslims, and members of the LGBTQ community, and extends in time to anyone who does not accept having their rights taken away and their free speech silenced.”

I also want to point to an article from June by Marilynne Robinson in the NYRB, “Notes from an Occupation.” 

Shortly following Good’s killing, ICE moved on to a nearby high school, pepper-spraying people, breaking windows and dragging people into custody. This is indeed an occupation.

And the evil will, I fear, escalate. Part of the problem with evil is that, once you take the turn, you have a tendency to double down, because to admit the evil carries with it too much guilt. This seems to be the MO of quite a few people in the administration. 

As Satan says at the key turning point in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, “Evil, be thou my Good.”