The tension between Americans and the ICE officers has always been thick. Although it had escalated after a civilian was shot in Minnesota, a clip of an ICE agent kicking candles at the memorial of the victim in Sacramento, California, that surfaced on the internet might have just made it much worse.
The video posted on Instagram showed a couple of protesters reacting immediately when the officer stepped on a candle and then kicked it. “Really, you [expletive] punk? That’s what you’re going to [expletive] do?” one of them said, confronting the officer, who did not back down either, and in a few seconds the pair were in each other’s faces. “Back up!” the officer bellowed, pushing the protester away. “I don’t give a [expletive],” he added when the protester kept asking if he knew what that was for.
“What’s her name? Renee Good. That’s a memorial to her,” the protester announced as another officer pulled him away from the situation. “You’re a [expletive] coward. Shame on you guys,” the protesters yelled as the officers walked away. “Respect for a mother, not politics. Basic human decency,” one Instagram user stated. “Why did the nerd cop run up on bro and then tell HIM to back off?” a user asked. They added, “Inciting violence is why these Cops want to kill you.” Sharing their sentiment, another said, “I love how they walk into YOUR personal space and have the nerve to ask you to back up.”
One user wrote, “Can’t even protest for a woman killed by the State? And they want to fix democracies in 3rd world countries. Lol.” While another said, “This looks like state-enabled terrorism. If that protestor had pushed back the officer the same way, he might have been shot as well.” A netizen wrote, “This is disgusting behaviour to kick a memorial candle and also not very fire-safe.” Another called people to think about the issue deeply, “Regardless of your politics, take a second and think if you really want to stand on the side of officers stomping on memorials.”
The criticisms and lamentations continued. “America! You have become an incredibly ugly country. Utterly corrupt to the core,” a concerned citizen cried out. Another one wrote, “This is sickening. A grieving community honored Renee Good, a mother and a citizen, and ICE responded by crushing candles instead of showing basic humanity. That tells you everything– no remorse, no accountability, just power trying to silence grief.” One attributed it to a political issue. “They’re drunk in power. Their iPOTUS and the rest of his junk drawer cabinet are behind their abusive [expletive],” they stated bluntly.
The anger of netizens towards ICE was not only based on the unfortunate death of the Minnesota victim but also on the fact that they tried to cover it up as self-defence. The Nerd Stash reported that Kristi Noem addressed the issue and claimed that the victim had posed as a threat to the officers. Noem alleged that what happened was an “act of domestic violence.”
The statement from Noem attracted a barrage of criticism from netizens.
