The infamous red line

Six months ago, I wrote about fight-or-flight instincts. I suggested that nobody's moving to Canada to flee the US regime. That's still true (though mostly because Canada won't have us). But I also wrote about fears about American democracy, and needing to draw a line between inaction and action.

In the shadow of escalating government violence, I thought it urgent and important to revisit what it means to be a US citizen right now. Six months ago, I laid out an anecdotal roadmap towards authoritarianism. Some called it "fear-mongering" or "alarmist." I'm writing today because much of what I described has come to pass—and because yesterday, a federal agent shot a 37-year-old American mother named Renee Nicole Good through her windshield on a snowy Minneapolis street.

She was not the target of the ICE operation. She was, by all accounts, an observer. She was a neighbor who went outside to see what was happening in her community.

Now she's dead. The federal government is calling her a domestic terrorist. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, after watching the video, called that narrative "bullshit." Governor Tim Walz told Minnesotans: "Don't believe this propaganda machine."

The Pattern

Renee Good is not the first person killed by federal immigration agents since the administration launched its aggressive enforcement blitz. According to The Marshall Project, federal officers have fatally shot at least three other people in the last five months alone.

In September, Silverio Villegas González, a cook and father from Mexico, was killed in a Chicago suburb. In December, a Border Patrol agent killed a 31-year-old Mexican citizen in Texas. On New Year's Eve, an off-duty ICE agent shot and killed a man in Los Angeles. The Trace has tracked more than a dozen shootings by immigration agents; some victims survived, including a Chicago woman shot five times in October. The Border Patrol officer who shot her allegedly texted afterward: "I fired 5 rounds, and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys."

Every time, the Department of Homeland Security insists the shootings were justified acts of self-defense. Every time, video evidence and witness accounts tell a different story.

The Checklist

Six months ago, I published a roadmap—an escalating series of warning signs that historically precede authoritarian consolidation. At the time, some readers told me I was being dramatic. Below is that complete list.

The administration has openly discussed invoking the Insurrection Act. Vice President Vance said on Meet the Press that "the president is looking at all his options" and is "not opposed" to using it. Stephen Miller told the New York Times back in 2023: "President Trump will do whatever it takes."

We're not at the end of the checklist. But we're further down it than I ever wanted to be. We’re deep into authoritarian behavior and approaching dissolution of democratic systems.

The Line

Renee Nicole Good was a graduate of Old Dominion University. She had a degree in English. She had a wife and a dog. On Wednesday morning, she went outside because federal agents were in her neighborhood, and she wanted to know what was happening.

A few minutes later, an agent shot her in the head.

Her wife watched it all happen. She was later found sitting in a stranger's front yard, covered in blood, saying "We have nobody out here. We're from out of town."

I don't know where your red line is. I don't know what it would take for you to decide that something fundamental has broken. But I know this: the government is killing American citizens on American streets, and then lying about it with easily disproven claims.

This is what authoritarianism looks like. Not in the abstract. Not in a history book. Right now.

What Comes Next

I'm a civic journalist, not an activist. My job is to help you understand what your government is doing. I can't tell you what to do with that information.

But I can tell you that Governor Tim Walz called this week's events "a reminder that our democracy is fragile." I can tell you that impeachment articles have been filed against Secretary Noem by Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois. I can tell you that Minneapolis schools are closed for the rest of the week due to safety concerns, and that thousands attended a candlelight vigil for Renee Good last night.

I can tell you that DHS has announced plans for a 2,000-officer deployment in Minnesota…they're calling it the "largest immigration operation ever."

And I can tell you that six months ago, I wrote a checklist because I was worried. Today, I'm writing because too much of it has come true.

The question I asked then was: where is your line?

The question I'm asking now is: have we crossed it?

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