I do not pretend to KNOW either of the two main individuals involved in the deadly shooting of the woman in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, but I hope sharing my thoughts makes you examine the circumstances of what happened yesterday and encourages both of us to look beyond the obvious.
I was a middle school/elementary principal for a long time, and upon reflection I had both in my school at one time or another. Please, allow me to explain. Because we know her name I will use it in this reflection, Renee. Since we don't know the agent's name I will take literary license and call him Cole.
In my mind, Renee was that early teen girl who was just a little "unique" for lack of a better term; easily liked but always adamant in her perspective on life. She was a bit of a rebel with a cause, fighting and speaking out for the rights of various groups or individuals she felt were marginalized not only in society in general, but middle school in particular. She was politically aware, to the extent a 13 year old could be, and had no problem voicing her opinion when the opportunity arose in either the classroom or at the cafeteria table. Renee grew up, married, had a child and was unfortunately widowed. After a time, she felt lucky to find another person to love and share her life with. She still felt strongly about social issues and the rights of those she felt were being mistreated or marginalized.
Cole was less noticed in middle school. Not that he didn't have a group of friends or that he was disliked in any way by his teachers, just kind of flew under the radar. He wasn't really a standout athlete or scholar, he liked to hang with "the guys" and play D&D or video games on the weekends. Sometimes he and his "posse" as he called them took their BB guns out to the woods and shot at old signs and stuff. Not a bad kid at all, just not as noticeable as Renee.
On the morning of January 7, 2026, Renee decided it was a good day to participate in an anti-ICE protest. She didn't have to work and her little boy was in school. As a matter of fact, she was going to step out there and go a bit further than usual and block the street with her car. Cole, on the other hand, was elated that he had been selected to serve his country by helping to extradite the illegal immigration menace that was plaguing the nation. He could not believe his good fortune when he was hired to do a job that he not only believed in, but paid him a salary beyond anything he could get back home.
The two met one another for the first time on a residential street in Minneapolis. Neither knew anything about each other. She felt pretty damn good sitting in her car participating actively in the expression of her civil rights by protecting individuals targeted for harassment by agents of an out of control government. He felt he was performing his duty by standing in the cold snowy street while his compatriots went door to door looking for the Somali threat. Both were secure in their position on the issues, until they came face to face with each other.
In her mind, she was just blocking the street, nothing more. She was unarmed and unprepared for the men rushing toward her screaming at her to "get the fuck out of the car", all she could think of was that she better get out of there before she was dragged out of her car and thrown down in the snow, possibly arrested for being in the very wrong place at the very wrong time. She wondered if maybe she had gone a little too far this time and should have stayed on the sidewalk not parked in the middle of the damn street. Her mind told her to get out of the situation, go.
For Cole, this was one of those days when the damn protesters were a major pain in the ass. They were shouting, flipping he and his team of agents the bird and some smart asses were throwing snowballs at them. The fools had no understanding of the idea that he and the men around him were doing their best to rid this country of a genuine threat to democracy. He was wary of the protesters. He had been told he needed a weapon to do this job. He might at some time be in a situation that required him to protect himself and his fellow officers from physical violence by a fellow citizen or a wanton criminal. He was ready to do just that.
She backed up a bit so she could turn the wheels to move forward and get out. She was scared and the agents had their weapons drawn. Everybody was shouting and there was a lot to think about. She just needed to get the hell out of there. He saw her car moving and heard the other agents shouting. He stepped to his left instead of his right. He had already pulled his gun. He was scared. A big SUV was moving toward him. She looked up. He looked in. Choices were made. He pulled the trigger. She died.
Who is responsible for this heinous event? Why are we in the place where we have to be afraid we may die on the snowy streets of our very nation? Who have we become and how are we going to change it?
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