Minneapolis Journalist On ICE Killing

[ad_1] by Janee Bolden January 17, 2026

In response to impartial journalist Georgia Fort, a Minnesota native, Minneapolis didn't grow to be a flashpoint in a single day.

Final week, 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot throughout an ICE operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking outrage throughout the nation and additional igniting protests throughout town. Within the days since, federal legislation enforcement exercise has solely intensified, and nationwide consideration has returned to a spot many affiliate with the fashionable civil rights motion.

BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke with impartial journalist Georgia Fort, a Minnesota native, who described the unhappy familiarity she is feeling in regards to the state of occasions. Fort owns and operates Energy 104.7 FM and the non-profit Heart for Broadcast Journalism, coaching journalists and constructing native media infrastructure.

“To be right here in Minnesota and realizing what we skilled again in 2020, it simply feels prefer it occurred right here twice,” Fort mentioned. “There was protesting taking place earlier than Renee Good was fatally shot. However when Renee Good was shot and killed, the nation erupted in protest. Going again to 2020, it appears like we had been the middle level of this international motion. And it appears like we’re right here once more. Though it’s very completely different this time, it feels much more intense. This time it’s the federal authorities, not native legislation enforcement.”

Fort, who's from close by St. Paul, has spent years reporting on police accountability, civil unrest, and authorities response throughout the Twin Cities. She stresses that Minneapolis didn't grow to be a flashpoint in a single day.

“The world got here to know in regards to the struggles right here by George Floyd. However George Floyd didn’t occur in a vacuum,” she mentioned. “There was the 18-day occupation in the midst of winter for Jamar Clark. There was Philando Castile. The world noticed it, however issues didn’t erupt nationally. It was nonetheless simply our battle.”

She continued, “Once you discuss Minnesota being floor zero, there’s been a continuation of injustices that developed organizations and leaders right here that realized tips on how to get up, realized tips on how to manage, realized tips on how to use civil disobedience to push elected officers to make selections that helped maintain the road for our civil rights and constitutional rights.”

Fort recalled a latest dialog with a longtime organizer that reframed how she thinks about this second. “I mentioned, ‘We’re floor zero once more,’ and he or she mentioned, ‘What do you imply once more? We by no means stopped being floor zero.’”

Being on the scene shortly after Renee Good was killed and documenting the aftermath underscored how layered the scenario has grow to be. Fort mentioned that whereas nationwide protection has targeted on the taking pictures itself, it has largely missed what was taking place concurrently throughout town.

“There are every day protests taking place in a number of places on the similar time,” she mentioned. “There are fast response teams reporting arrests each minute. That infrastructure obtained a cyberattack. The writer of the large newspaper acquired attacked. These items are taking place whereas individuals are within the streets, and I don’t suppose nationwide media understands that half that individuals are experiencing.”

She additionally pointed to earlier ICE exercise in Minnesota as context that's typically disregarded. “In June, the primary massive ICE raid occurred right here, and there was an enormous protest,” she mentioned. “Days later, one of many protesters did an interview with us. She was arrested at my workplace.”

Fort mentioned the girl, a Latina protester and authorized U.S. citizen, was charged in ways in which felt designed to discourage dissent. “They’ve delayed her trial 4 occasions. To me, that felt like intimidation. We’ve seen comparable costs introduced towards protesters throughout the nation, and a excessive share don’t maintain up in courtroom.”

For Fort, the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis raised questions that transcend one incident. “The worst factor that might occur throughout an ICE arrest occurred,” she mentioned. “And I don’t know that elected officers nonetheless actually know what they will do.”

She added, “One of many questions I hold asking myself is what energy municipalities, counties, and states should leverage towards constitutional violations of residents. That nuance isn’t mirrored in a major approach.”

That disconnect between rhetoric and motion is one thing Fort says impartial journalists are uniquely positioned to interrogate.

“Nationwide media helicopters in after which they go away,” she mentioned. “They don’t have the context, the depth, or the relationships. Unbiased journalists normally have the belief of the neighborhood and may get a extra uncooked perspective.”

She added that company shops typically depend on institutional sources. “They’re sourcing officers who've their very own political agenda. They don’t wish to jeopardize these relationships.”

Fort mentioned impartial journalists stay after the cameras transfer on. “The mayor says, ‘Get the F out,’ and it goes viral. However then what's the coverage motion? What’s the follow-up? Unbiased journalists are nonetheless right here asking, ‘So now what?’”

Being on the bottom additionally reveals contradictions that not often make nationwide headlines. “I used to be there on the crime scene after Renee Good was fatally shot,” Fort mentioned. “I noticed the Minneapolis Police Division and Hennepin County Sheriffs lengthen the crime scene so federal brokers might exit safely. That wasn’t reported anyplace.”

Complicating protection additional is the rise of misinformation, significantly AI-generated content material. “AI-generated photos and movies are extraordinarily harmful for the unfold of misinformation,” Fort mentioned. “Now individuals say, ‘Take a look at this image, watch this video,’ and it distorts actuality.”

She famous that older audiences are particularly susceptible. “They don’t have the cues to determine what’s actual and what’s AI. These instruments are being weaponized to justify violations of constitutional and civil rights.”

In response to Fort, due to the dearth of in-depth protection, it’s vital to help impartial Black-led media.

“Individuals may help by taking a while to educate themselves,” she mentioned. “Public colleges don’t train media literacy. Help doesn’t should be cash. It may be studying, listening watching, sharing the content material that’s being produced by these corporations. After which sure, there's the monetary help that comes with it. If there’s a month-to-month subscription, a one-time contribution or when you characterize a corporation, you possibly can promote or sponsor, sponsor an occasion, run an advert, run a PSA.”