The events that played out in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026 — and the official government responses that followed — put the lie to one of the left’s most cherished talking points: that law-abiding citizens should put down their guns, dial 911, and trust the government to protect them.
Renée Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, was fatally shot by ICE Deportation Officer Jonathan Ross during a federal immigration enforcement operation on January 7, 2026. Good was driving a Honda Pilot, and based on footage reviewed by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the vehicle moved directly toward ICE agents. The investigation is ongoing. I am not here to adjudicate the shooting — what I am here to talk about is what elected officials said next.
Philadelphia’s Sheriff Called ICE “Fake, Made-Up, Wannabe Law Enforcement”
Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal held a press conference alongside DA Larry Krasner and delivered what may be the single most alarming statement from a sworn law enforcement official I have seen in years. She said — on camera — that ICE agents are “not the fake made-up ICE, probably Trump’s new army to attack citizens of the United States.” She called them people who “come into our communities wearing a mask to commit crime.” She promised that any ICE agent who comes to Philadelphia will be arrested, and that “the criminal in the White House” cannot shield them.
Let that sink in. The Sheriff of the City and County of Philadelphia publicly declared that a federal agency operating under a lawful congressional mandate is not real law enforcement. Krasner — DA since 2017 — stood right beside her and launched the F.A.F.O. Coalition to prosecute federal agents.
These are the people the left wants you to call when you need help. If they are willing to treat a federal immigration officer enforcing an act of Congress as a criminal, you can draw your own conclusions about how much they value your safety and your rights.
Oregon’s Senate Majority Leader Told ICE to “Get the Hell Out”
Oregon State Senator Kayse Jama, the Senate Majority Leader, took to a Portland press conference to deliver his own message to federal law enforcement: “This is Oregon. We do not need you. You’re not welcome. And you need to get the hell out of our community.”
ICE was not in Oregon to deport citizens. They were there to remove people who are in the country illegally under the Laken Riley Act and broader immigration statutes. The message from Jama’s podium was that federal law simply does not apply in Oregon. This is the same political faction relentlessly working to gut the Second Amendment at every level of the court system. When they say they do not recognize federal law, they mean it — selectively.
The Left’s Asymmetric Outrage
Here is where my frustration boils over. When Laken Riley — a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University — was murdered while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in February 2024 by José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national here illegally, there were no press conferences. No chanting of her name. No coalition of progressive DAs promising to fight for her. Nothing.
Now a woman who, based on the evidence, drove her car at federal agents conducting a lawful arrest is being elevated as a martyr. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Some victims are politically useful. Others are not. The difference, as far as I can tell, is whether the victim’s death advances a particular narrative about dismantling law enforcement and importing a new voting base.
ICE is not deporting your neighbor from Idaho. They are removing people who are here illegally. The financial machine built around mass migration — billions in taxpayer-funded welfare, hotel rooms, and NGO resettlement budgets — is enormous, and the people running it have every incentive to keep the tap open.
What Sheriff Judd Got Right
In sharp contrast to Bilal and Jama, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd delivered a statement that reflects how the law actually works. Judd said:
“Law enforcement officers, federal law enforcement officers, ICE agents were trying to take the occupant of the car out of the vehicle. During this encounter, the vehicle backed up and then drove directly at the ICE agent. That is a deadly weapon. A two-ton deadly weapon. So, what did the occupant expect? They should have expected to be shot when you commit a deadly assault on a law enforcement officer.”
That is not cruelty. That is basic use-of-force law. A vehicle driven at a law enforcement officer is a deadly weapon. The agent’s response was legally defensible on its face. None of that gets mentioned by Bilal or Krasner. None of it was noted by Jama.
What This Means for the Second Amendment
The bottom line is this: in a growing number of American jurisdictions, your local “law enforcement” is run by officials who openly despise federal law, mock the officers who enforce it, and are willing to prosecute those officers instead of the people they are removing. If that is who shows up when you call 911, the argument that you do not need a firearm for self-defense becomes not just wrong — it becomes dangerous.
The fight for the Second Amendment and the fight to enforce immigration law are not separate fights. They are the same fight. The people working hardest to disarm you are the same people working hardest to import a population that will vote to keep them in power. I have said it before and I will keep saying it: there is no Second Amendment issue more important right now than restoring the rule of law on the border and in our cities. Bilal, Krasner, and Jama just proved my point for me.
This article is based on analysis by Professor Mark W. Smith, constitutional attorney and Host of the Four Boxes Diner 2nd Amendment channel. Watch the original video here. This does not constitute legal advice.