As I write this, it has only been a day since an ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three. And already it feels like the news cycle has moved past the stunningly brutal summary execution for what amounted to a traffic violation and has moved on to speculation on how this might affect the mid-terms. By the time this is shared Friday it may be off the radar — there is, after all, an excellent chance that a new violation of international law will have caught our attention.
But I'm stuck on sadness and bitterness for now and expect to remain there for a while. Sadness because of the loss of life. Not just Ms. Good but for all the people who have suffered (and will suffer) because a wannabe dictator needs to keep his base frothing with fear and anger. Bitterness because it's so unnecessary. As Detroit and other cities and towns have proved, real improvements in public safety don't come from armed thugs set loose upon the citizenry. Real improvements come from coordinated community efforts.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
