Campaign to destroy René Gide

Renee Nicole Good She was a poet, mother of three children, and wife. Within hours of her death, she became, to the government, a domestic terrorist.

On January 7, ICE Agent Jonathan Ross shot Judd through her car’s windshield and window in Minneapolis. She appeared to have been shot four times, according to the New York Times, which cited a Minneapolis Fire Department report. Hours after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Goode of “[weaponizing] Her vehicle.” President Donald Trump claimed the 37-year-old ran over the agent who killed her “violently, intentionally and brutally.” Vice President J.D. Vance called her death a “tragedy of her own making.”

Bystander videos showed something different: It was a good idea to try to get away when shots were fired. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the self-defense narrative “nonsense.”

Despite the graphic evidence, the conservative media immediately rallied. Judd was “100 percent responsible” for her death, according to the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh. Megyn Kelly said it was “her doing.” The verdict felt unanimous: she deserved it.

But the reasons used to justify her death went far beyond what she did or didn’t do to her car. A lot of it has centered around Judd’s identity as a gay woman.

Walsh described Judd as a “lesbian agitator.” Ian Miles Cheung, a right-wing commentator with millions of followers, described her as a “carpet-chewing leftist”. On Fox News, Jessie Watters noted that Judd is “leaving behind a gay partner” and confirmed that she has “pronouns on her bio,” in an apparent reference to her Instagram profile.

Judd was in a relationship with Becca Judd, and the two had recently moved to Minneapolis in search of a “better life” for themselves, according to a statement Becca released after her death. Xtra reported that they left Kansas City, Missouri, for Canada after Trump won the 2024 elections, before returning to the United States.

Two days after Judd’s murder, footage appearing to be from Ross’s cell phone was leaked to the conservative Minnesota outlet Alpha News. It shows the moments leading up to the shooting. Jed sits behind the wheel and calmly says to the person filming: “I’m not mad at you.” Her partner, Becca, is outside the car, confronting Ross. Becca looks defiant and unafraid, telling the person behind the camera: “Go get yourself some lunch, big boy.” As Judd tries to walk away, Ross fires several shots. Then, just before Judd’s car crashed, a voice was heard saying: “You fucking bitch.”

Whoever leaked this video could have edited the slander. They didn’t. And judging by the reactions of right-wing influencers, they didn’t need to.

“There’s a real sense of misogyny in the way conservative media talks about these kinds of protests,” says Courtney Hagel, research director at Media Matters for America, which has tracked the right’s response to Goode’s death. “They’re clearly very angry about the presence of women, especially white women, liberal women.” The video, Hagel said, “reinforced for them that this was not a human being they should care about.”

Some of the comments, including references to Becca as Jude’s alleged “wife,” also seemed like a sly way to delegitimize the merchandise relationship.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump repeatedly referred to Becca Goode as Renee’s “friend.” “The woman and her friend were extremely disrespectful of law enforcement,” he said. This kind of erasure sends a message, says Lee Fink, a Minnesota state lawmaker and the state’s first openly transgender elected official. “All they will portray is that gay women are disrespectful and disobedient to men in power.”