‘Unimaginable loss’: Renee Good family urges ‘empathy’ in call for justice

Renee Good’s extended family said on Monday it wanted justice and accountability for her death at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, but urged people stirred to outrage by the shooting of the 37-year-old Minneapolis mother of three to root their conversations in “humanity, empathy, and care for the family most affected”.In a statement and in interviews with the Guardian, the family members – most of them relatives of Good’s late husband Timmy Macklin Jr, the father of her youngest son – paid tribute to Good, her children, and to Macklin, and said they hoped the “unimaginable loss” the family had suffered would lead to meaningful change and “fewer families [who] have to endure this kind of pain”.It was the first time anyone in the family other than Good’s widow Becca had issued a public statement. Macklin’s parents and siblings, in consultation with Good’s mother Donna, described Good as “an extraordinary mother, devoted, fiercely loving, and always putting her children at the center of the world. She was full of heart and never defined by malice.”Good with Macklin in Paris. Photograph: Courtesy of Renee Good’s familyThe statement made no specific mention of ICE, the Trump administration’s attempts to tar Good as a domestic terrorist, the video footage of her final moments that New York’s mayor Zohran Mamdani and others have characterized as evidence of “murder”, or the investigation into her death that the FBI is leading without input from Minnesota law enforcement.Rather, the family members said they wanted to avoid the divisiveness and harsh language that has characterized much of the wrangling between the administration and its opponents since the shooting last Wednesday.“There’s been so much hateful rhetoric back and forth, and what’s been missed is painting a picture of who Renee was,” Good’s sister-in-law Jessica Fletcher said. In the statement, which Fletcher drafted, the family said it was speaking “with care, clarity, and love”.The tone was similar to a statement that Becca Good made to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday, in which she said the way to honor her wife was by “living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love”.Good’s former mother-in-law Charlene Fletcher told the Guardian that meeting Good had started a new chapter in her life and “made me a better mother”.She added: “It feels deeply wrong that Renee died in this way. She had a beautiful voice that everyone should have had the chance to hear. The last thing Renee would have wanted was violence carried out in her name.”The statement celebrated the bonds of love in a complicated family. Good’s two older children from another relationship live with their father in Colorado. Macklin, an air force veteran, died in 2023 at the age of 36 of causes the family has not specified beyond saying that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health challenges.“Raising their child together and building a life with her made these years truly the best he ever had,” the family said of Macklin. “He would have been absolutely devastated by this.”The statement made particular mention of Good’s youngest son, who is now an orphan at the age of six, and said of all three children that they “deserve privacy, protection, and care as they begin to navigate life without their mother”.The family referred only vaguely to protests that have erupted in multiple US cities in response to Good’s death, thanking “everyone who has shown up, spoken out, and held space for the family during this incredibly difficult time”.Jessica Fletcher said the vagueness was a deliberate choice. “I don’t want to open it up into this huge fight with the opposing side,” she said. “That would just be pouring more gasoline on the fire. But not saying something is political too.”The statement went on: “We know Renee would be there too, cheering on those who fight for justice and standing with the people, causes, and community she loved. We hope this inspires accountability, compassion, and meaningful change.”