MANKATO, Minn. — By the end of a vigil Wednesday night in Mankato, attendees found out the name of the woman whose death brought them there.

Cole Koets, a student organizer at Minnesota State University, picked up a megaphone to inform the crowd. 

“Her name was Renee Nicole Good, and we should remember it so close to our hearts,” he said.

The gathering in downtown Mankato was one of at least a few springing up in Greater Minnesota in the wake of Good’s death at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.  

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ICE’s ramped-up operation in Minnesota, and the tragedy that resulted from it, is meant to sow fear, said David Mesta, COPAL’s lead organizer in south-central Minnesota. 

“Looking at this community today, we’re not going to let fear dictate how we protect our communities,” he said.

More than 100 people attended the vigil in Mankato, where Koets and Mesta joined with faith leaders and other speakers to call for ICE’s removal from Minnesota. A group had earlier demonstrated against ICE on a bridge over Highway 169 before marching to the vigil.

An event in Rochester took place at the same time, preceded by a vigil in Duluth starting a couple hours earlier. ISAIAH, a community organizing group, was involved in the Mankato and Rochester vigils.

“We must call on Congress to demand a cease of ICE’s operations until an investigation into this incident is completed,” ISAIAH stated in a release. “People are being killed. Enough is enough. Our communities cannot wait for action.”

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Corinne Freedman Ellis, a pastor at Peace United Church of Christ in Duluth, attended Duluth’s vigil. As someone who lived in Minneapolis in 2020, she said Wednesday’s tragedy brought back memories from George Floyd’s murder and the social movements it inspired.

Her congregation is a sanctuary and immigrant-welcoming church. She hopes the vigil sent a positive message to Duluth’s immigrant and refugee communities.

“It’s important for those folks to know we have their backs, first and foremost,” she said. “It feels like a time of solidarity for all Minnesotans.” 

Rochester’s vigil drew about 150 people, according to ISAIAH. David Perdomo, southeast Minnesota organizer for COPAL, demanded justice for the victim.

“They mercilessly killed a young woman, a mother, whose only purpose was to ensure that constitutional rights were respected and to protect the members of her community,” he said in a statement. 

Matt Sipe, a pastor at Mankato’s Hilltop United Methodist Church, brought candles to the Mankato vigil. The outcomes of ICE’s actions are predictable, horrifying and felt in his community, he said.

“I believe this really is a national moment here in Minnesota,” he said. “We can play a role in shaping how we want to move forward together as a country and as people who are fueled by justice and love in this world.” 

Chris Schoenstedt and Ava Corey-Gruenes called on local leaders to speak out against ICE. The City of Mankato confirmed that Department of Homeland Security agents were in the community late in December, but city leaders were silent, he said.

Corey-Gruenes invited people to attend Mankato’s next City Council meeting to request ordinances protecting immigrants and a policy preventing police from cooperating with ICE. Schoenstedt, growing emotional as he talked to the crowd, said coming together to grieve is only a start.

“Vigils are great and they’re wonderful, but what we need even more so than this is to actually have action steps taken,” he said. 

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