We, the Nashville People’s Budget Coalition, condemn in the strongest terms the state murder of Renee Good, a legal observer dedicated to protecting the rights of people. Renee was killed by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency whose very existence represents a pillar of domestic state violence, racism, and family separation.
Renee Good was acting in the sacred role of legal observing — a crucial community shield against state violence and violation. Her murder is not an isolated incident or a tragic accident. It is a direct, logical outcome of a system that empowers agencies like ICE to act with impunity, to surveil, to brutalize, and to kill with no repercussions. This violence is deployed first and most fiercely against Black and Brown communities, immigrants, the poor, and those, like Renee, who courageously stand in solidarity with them.
We connect this domestic terror directly to the imperialist violence our government inflicts abroad. The state government responsible for Renee Good’s murder is the same government that is responsible for terrorizing Nashville communities. It is the same government that wages economic war, supports coups, and enforces sanctions against sovereign nations like Venezuela, while also having ICE round up Venezuelans here in the United States and send them to El Salvador.
The goal is identical: to crush any project, any resistance that challenges U.S. domination, and any example of a society that prioritizes people over profits. The sanctions against Venezuela are no different from the divestment our communities face when our tax dollars are stolen away from us, used to create institutions of mass suffering and death here and globally.
The war at home and the wars abroad are funded by the same source: a bloated budget that pours trillions into policing, incarceration, and militarism while starving our communities of healthcare, housing, education, and a living wage. The people of Nashville, the people of Minnesota, and the people of Venezuela are fighting the same enemy: a system that sacrifices people and planet in pursuit of profit.
We honor Renee Good’s life by reaffirming our commitment to the fight for a world without state violence, borders, or empire. There was a time before ICE and there will be a time after in our lifetime.
Abolish ICE. Abolish Police. Renee Nicole Good and all victims of state/imperial violence, PRESENTE!
Nashville People's Budget Coalition 