DENVER — Leaders and activists in Colorado are demanding answers after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Good was originally from Colorado, according to her uncle, Robert Ganger.
He told Denver7 via phone late Wednesday afternoon news of her passing were especially difficult for the family since Good's older sister was celebrating her birthday that day.
On Thursday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Good leaves behind a 6-year-old child.
"First of all, it's heartbreaking, obviously, for folks that may know this woman," Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told Denver7's Veronica Acosta Thursday. "Makes the world feel small in that way, but it is."
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"It is heartbreaking to see someone who did not need to die, dying in the course of this federal enforcement in cities, and for us, this is why we've said for a long time: Deploying federal troops to cities do not make them safer," Mayor Johnston added.
The mayor criticized the presence of masked agents in local municipalities.
"I think for us, what we're saying is — this is why we think that this is a dangerous practice, and this is why we think it's dangerous for the residents of our cities, and I think it's dangerous for ICE officers who aren't trained to navigate situations like this, and they're going to find themselves in places where they're going to be a part of tragic events like yesterday," he said. "I think this also is built on a fundamental misunderstanding the administration has of what's happening in cities."
He continued, "You saw this when there was a first enforcement nine months ago, and they said we're going to come and we're targeting hundreds of violent criminals we're going to find in the city. That's just false," Mayor Johnston said. "There are not hundreds of violent criminals in any major city that our police departments are not already tracking, pursuing and arresting."
Activists who organized following woman's killing say more protests are coming
Denver7 also spoke with activists at the helm of an organized protest that took place Tuesday night outside of the Aurora GEO facility.
Brandon Gehrke, an organizer with Aurora Unidos CSO, told Denver7's Veronica Acosta he and others who are part of the organization quickly mobilized to make the protest happen.
"I was reached out to by one of our organizers in Minneapolis just minutes after it happened," Gehrke said. "We very quickly organized mass mobilizations across the country, with over 20 different cities participating at this point, both today and yesterday."
Gerhke told Denver7 Aurora Unidos CSO is working with other organizations to put on another protest at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday night.
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As for Mayor Johnston, he told Denver7 he hopes for healing for Good's family, and a decrease on national temperature.
"I think this is also what happens when you have a national political rhetoric that is so hateful and so divisive that essentially everyone feels like they're fighting all the time," he said. "Part of what we're trying to do is turn that temperature down and saying, 'there are folks that disagree with me, disagree with my policies, that is okay.'"
Denver7 also reached out to every Republican member of Colorado's congressional delegation regarding Wednesday's shooting.
Only a spokesperson for Congressman Gabe Evans got back to us, simply saying the congressman had not "made any public statements on it at this time."
No statement was returned as of the publishing of this story.
