Joy Reid has framed the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good as proof that even progressive white activists are no longer shielded by the white privilege they once believed would protect them from law enforcement.
During a Monday appearance on the podcast Way Up with Angela Yee, the former MSNBC host discussed Goods death and repeatedly cast the incident in racial and ideological terms, according to The Post Millennial. Reid asserted that Good was part of an organized effort to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations targeting illegal immigrants, openly acknowledging that the group was trained to interfere with federal law enforcement.
This woman was part of a group of people who they train to try to be ICE interrupters. And what they try to do is observe what ICE is doing, film them, and try to use their white privilege to be honest, theyre mainly white people, which is what we asked them to do, right? Reid said. Because black people we cant put our bodies on the line because cops will shoot us.
She went on to argue that white women, in particular, had been deployed as the front line against ICE because of longstanding cultural narratives about protecting pristine white femininity.
And so the presumption had been, particularly a white woman, because remember, part of the rationale for doing this with ICE is to save white women, pristine white women, from being ravaged by criminal brown men, Reid continued. So, they, white women, have been taking the lead in being the ones to step forward and challenge ICE. In Reids telling, Goods activism and identity were supposed to function as a kind of political armor against the consequences of obstructing federal officers.
Reid acknowledged that Good and her wife had blocked a roadway in an attempt to prevent ICE agents from detaining illegal immigrants in a residential neighborhood. She claimed that after ICE ordered Good out of her vehicle, Good panicked and began to back up her car to get out of the way, at which point Reid alleged an ICE agent opened fire.
However, video of the incident undercuts that narrative, showing Good driving her vehicle toward an ICE agent before he discharged his weapon. Authorities have stated that the agent, identified as Jonathan Ross, was struck by Goods vehicle and later treated for internal bleeding in his torso, reinforcing the account that the car had been used in a threatening manner.
Despite the footage and official statements, Reid insisted on casting the shooting as a racial parable, calling it a George Floyd moment for the anti-ICE movement. She argued that Floyds death proved police will just kill black people, while Goods death shows that even those supposed to be safe with law enforcement can be killed when they confront federal power.
Nobodys safe. White women arent safe. Theyll kill them too, Reid said, predicting that Good will become the George Floyd of the growing movement resisting ICE operations. Her remarks highlight a broader left-wing effort to recast confrontations with law enforcementeven when suspects appear to weaponize vehicles against officersas civil-rights martyrdom, a framing that many conservatives see as undermining the rule of law and excusing dangerous resistance to lawful immigration enforcement.
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