- 2 days ago
The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell - Season 13 - Episode 23
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00At one of the darkest hours in Irish history, after the failed Easter uprising in Dublin
00:06against British rule, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote a poem about that moment
00:13in history titled Easter 1916.
00:17It has this passage that I've never forgotten and came to mind today in our dark times.
00:26Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.
00:31Oh, when may it suffice?
00:33That is heaven's part.
00:35Our part to murmur name upon name as a mother names her child when sleep at last has come
00:43on limbs that had run wild.
00:47Our part to murmur name upon name.
00:50He meant the names of the Irish heroes who fell in death in that failed uprising against
00:57British rule in 1916.
00:59And today, today was a day to murmur name upon name.
01:07To honor name upon name of those who have been killed by Donald Trump's invasion forces in
01:14American cities, Renee Good, Alex Preddy, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, and others.
01:23It happened in a hearing room in Congress where no Republican dared to tread.
01:33Not one.
01:35Not one.
01:37If Renee Good could tell her story, would anyone listen?
01:43If Alex Preddy could tell his story now of what happened on that street before two of
01:50Donald Trump's agents fired at least 10 shots at him, would anyone listen?
01:55If Renee Good and Alex Preddy had somehow miraculously survived the gunshot wounds inflicted on them
02:01when they posed no threat to anyone, would anyone listen to them now?
02:07Renee Good and Alex Preddy found their ultimate power in death.
02:13They have captured the world's attention.
02:16The world knows their names because they died, because they were murdered, and because we saw
02:24their murders on video, but what power would they have had if they survived?
02:32Would we all be able to murmur name upon name?
02:37Would we remember their names?
02:39Or would their names be lost in the horror stories of the Trump invasion forces?
02:45If Renee Good and Alex Preddy had somehow miraculously survived those gunshot wounds,
02:52they would have testified to Congress today, and not one Republican would have listened to them.
02:58Not one.
03:00They would have testified to Congress today, and much of the news media would ignore
03:04much or all of their testimony.
03:07They would have testified to Congress today in a hearing that not one, no one in the right-wing
03:12media will pay attention to, no one consuming right-wing media will even know about.
03:18If Renee Good and Alex Preddy had somehow lived, they would have testified to Congress today,
03:22and they would have seen that not a single Republican showed up at a combined hearing
03:27of senators and House members, not a single Republican dared to set foot in that room today
03:33and offer one word of defense for what was accurately called murder today by the always
03:40legally careful Senator Richard Blumenthal, who previously served as the Attorney General
03:45of the State of Connecticut and was a former federal prosecutor.
03:49Senator Blumenthal was the Senate co-chair of the meeting, along with his House co-chair
03:55of the meeting, Congressman Robert Garcia.
03:57Victims of the criminal violence unleashed by Donald Trump's invasion forces testified at the
04:04hearing today, including one 30-year-old Montessori school teacher, Miramar Martinez, who survived
04:13seven gunshot wounds, seven gunshot wounds.
04:18Those bullets were fired at her for absolutely no reason.
04:23In his opening remarks, Senator Blumenthal said this.
04:30With us in spirit are also Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preddy.
04:36In spirit.
04:38They should be here in person, but they were murdered.
04:41They were murdered by their own government.
04:44They were killed in cold blood.
04:50In cold blood.
04:52The first victim of the crimes of Donald Trump's invasion force to testify today, Miramar Martinez,
04:59an American citizen born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where one of Donald Trump's ICE agents
05:05tried to murder her.
05:08Agent Charles Exum celebrated his attempted murder of Miramar Martinez in texts to his obviously
05:17criminally minded teammates.
05:21It's disgusting, shameful, and it gets worse.
05:26Ms. Martinez, these are images of texts sent by the agent who shot you.
05:31And they're actually disturbing to read, but I think it's important for the public to see this.
05:37The agent linked an article about your shooting and texted,
05:40Read it.
05:42Five shots.
05:43Seven holes.
05:44Seven holes.
05:45I fired five rounds and she had seven holes.
05:48Put that in your book, boys.
05:51Oh, well, it is what it is.
05:54F*** happens.
05:57This is someone that works for the United States government.
06:01I fired five rounds and she had seven holes.
06:05Now, he was talking about you.
06:08And it's our understanding that he was actually bragging about his aim, shooting an unarmed
06:14American citizen.
06:17Is that right?
06:19Correct.
06:22Miramar Martinez remembered Renee Good, Alex Preddy, and other dead victims of Donald Trump's
06:28invasion force in her testimony.
06:32When I get dressed and I stare at my body, now permanently disfigured by the five lead bullets
06:38X on fire into me.
06:41They will be there this summer when I head to the beach with my dogs and family.
06:46They will be there when I get down on the floor with my students and work with them on
06:50their motor skills.
06:53And perhaps even worse, the mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time
06:59my own government attempted to execute me.
07:02And when they fell, they chose to vilify me.
07:06I am Renee Good.
07:08I am Alex Preddy.
07:09I am Silberio Villega Gonzalez.
07:12I am Keith Porter.
07:13They should all be here today.
07:15I know each of them will trade my bullet wounds and lifetime of mental distress and a heartbeat
07:22to be able to be back with their loved ones this afternoon.
07:30She is a miracle because she lived.
07:34She said in her opening remarks, quote, as a 30-year-old USA citizen with no criminal history,
07:41I believed that I had nothing to worry about.
07:45Her story proves that we all have something to worry about.
07:50Donald Trump's invasion force can decide to shoot and kill any one of us at any time.
07:57What you are about to hear are stories of life in Donald Trump's America, and you will
08:02hear stories about death in Donald Trump's America.
08:06When you hear the testimony today from Renee Good's brothers, who talked about the light
08:12she brought into this world before she was murdered by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who was
08:17put on that street by Donald Trump.
08:22If on a Saturday morning you are on your way to church to donate some clothes, as Miramar
08:27Martinez was, this is what can happen to you now in Donald Trump's America.
08:37The border patrol vehicle stopped just one to two car lengths ahead of me.
08:45It seemed like time stopped.
08:48I knew from watching the news coverage of other border patrol encounters in Chicago that
08:53I was in danger.
08:54I watched the vehicle of agent border patrol agent killing Silverio Villegas Gonzalez just
09:01three weeks prior.
09:03I knew I had to get to safety before I was dragged from my car and likely beaten or killed.
09:10I drove forward and went around the border patrol agents who jumped out of his car and pointed
09:15his gun at me.
09:16I moved to the far left lane, striking the curb on the far left side of Ketzee.
09:21The next thing I knew, I felt a burning cessation in my arms, legs, and that I had been shot
09:27by
09:27pepper balls, which I also seen these agents fire at people in our community.
09:34As I continued to drive past the border patrol agents, I could hear my back passenger window
09:41shatter, and I felt bullets continue to pierce my body.
09:44As I attempted to drive to a safe location, I began to feel lightheaded.
09:50I looked down and I noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs, and I realized I had been
09:56shot multiple
09:56times.
09:58As I became lightheaded, I became worried I would pass out and endanger other drivers on
10:03the road.
10:06I managed to drive a mile from where the incident happened, and I pulled into the parking lot
10:13of a mechanic shop, and I called 911.
10:17I told the 911 operator that border patrol agents had just shot me and I needed help.
10:23I recalled some of the workers from the shop sitting me down in a chair as I was waiting
10:28for help, but I was losing this battle.
10:31I saw my life flash before me and slowly began to think this was the end for me, and before
10:38losing consciousness, the next thing I remember is the EMT putting me on a stretcher, taking
10:44me to the hospital.
10:47At the hospital, I remember seeing multiple agents standing around, watching me be treated
10:53for my wounds.
10:55My arms, legs, and chest were all wrapped in bandages.
10:59I had seven bullet holes in my body.
11:02I remember the agents rushing the nurses to finish up so they could take me with them.
11:07I still felt dizzy.
11:09I was not able to fully process what had happened to me.
11:12After being at the hospital for less than three hours, I was discharged from the hospital
11:19and took custody of the FBI.
11:23That could be you.
11:25That could be your sister.
11:28That could be your mother.
11:30That could be anyone now in Donald Trump's America.
11:36She was hit by five bullets, creating seven gunshot wounds because some of the bullets had created
11:44exit wounds before reentering the body, possibly passing through her arm and then into her chest.
11:51That's how you get more wounds than the number of bullets fired.
11:56And that agent is very proud, very proud that his bullets did that kind of damage.
12:02She was still bleeding after those three hours in the emergency room.
12:06And Donald Trump's agents dragged her out of that hospital and put her in jail that Saturday night to spend
12:12the weekend in jail.
12:14I was in a car accident once where I broke some bones and I was in the hospital for 12
12:19days and I didn't have a single bullet wound.
12:23When Donald Trump's agents try to kill you, they really try to kill you.
12:27And if they don't kill you on the street, they will try to kill you by dragging you out of
12:32the hospital if they can.
12:33And that is not a mistake.
12:35Dragging a wounded young woman out of the hospital.
12:38That is a willful attempt to kill her.
12:43But Miramar Martinez is a miracle.
12:48Because Miramar Martinez just wouldn't die.
12:54The news in the jail that that evening had my story and was being called a domestic terrorist.
13:00They said I quote-unquote rammed federal agents.
13:05I was in shock.
13:06If they only knew I was a month away from paying off my truck and I would never intentionally damage
13:14my vehicle.
13:17Much less be crazy enough to hit a law enforcement.
13:21On Friday, I was teaching the young children at the Montessori school and we were singing and dancing and getting
13:27ready for spooky season.
13:29Prepare, preparing for activities to do the following week.
13:34And on Saturday, my own government was calling me a domestic terrorist.
13:38And I was in federal detention centers with the bullet holes all over my body.
13:45And then in court on the next Monday morning, Donald Trump's prosecutors wanted to keep Miramar Martinez in jail awaiting
13:53trial, in jail indefinitely.
13:55The judge saw a courtroom full of parents from the school where she's a teacher and her family there supporting
14:00her.
14:01And the judge listened to the evidence and he immediately released her.
14:06And then agent Charles Exum drove the car that he jumped out of that day from Chicago to Maine.
14:15That's right.
14:16He willfully removed the important evidence in the case, the vehicle which he claims Miramar Martinez tried to ram.
14:25And he drove that car across the country to get it out of the case.
14:29There must have been absolutely no damage on that car.
14:32There must have been no evidence on that car that could possibly have helped their case.
14:37And then Donald Trump's invasion force and Donald Trump's federal federal federal prosecutors just dropped the charges against Miramar Martinez
14:48and thereby proved that they were lying, that she never tried to ram their car because they never would have
14:56dropped the charges for that.
14:57They proved by dropping those charges.
15:00There was absolutely no reason to fire a single shot at her.
15:07The 30 year old Montessori school teacher who Donald Trump's liars called a domestic terrorist was never charged with a
15:16crime.
15:18They tried to murder her, but never charged her with a crime.
15:24Who are the domestic terrorists in that story?
15:29None of the victims of the Trump encouraged violence testifying in today's hearing were ever charged with a crime.
15:37The next victim, another American citizen, was from Minneapolis.
15:45My name is Ali Rahman, and I am a resident of South Minneapolis.
15:53I'm a Bangladeshi American, born in northern Wisconsin.
15:57And I'm a disabled person with autism and a traumatic brain injury.
16:04Not all autistic brains do this, but mine fixates on sounds, numbers, and patterns.
16:12On January 13th, on the way to my 39th appointment at Hennepin County's Traumatic Brain Injury Center, I encountered a
16:20traffic jam caused by ICE vehicles and no signs indicating how to get around it.
16:26I had not wanted to pull into a blocked, chaotic intersection, but verbally agreed to do so and rolled down
16:34my window after an agent yelled,
16:36Move! I will break your effing window!
16:40His first instruction.
16:44Agents on all sides of my vehicle yelled conflicting threats and instructions that I could not process while watching for
16:50pedestrians.
16:53Then the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face.
16:59I yelled, I'm disabled, at the hands grabbing at me, and an agent said, Too late.
17:08I felt immersed in a pattern, and I thought of Genoa Donald, an autistic black man killed by police during
17:17a traffic stop in 2021.
17:20I remembered Mr. Silberio Gonzales, who was killed by ICE in his vehicle last year.
17:29An agent pulled a large combat knife in front of my face, which I thought was for cutting me, and
17:35later learned was used to cut off my seatbelt.
17:40Shooting pain went through my head, neck, and wrists when I hit the ground face first, and people leaned on
17:47my back.
17:49I felt the pattern, and I thought of Mr. George Floyd, who was killed four blocks away.
17:58I was carried face down through the street by my cuffed arms and legs while yelling that I had a
18:05brain injury and was disabled.
18:08I now cannot lift my arms normally.
18:14I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights, and never charged with
18:26a crime.
18:27I received no medical screening, phone call, or access to a lawyer.
18:32I was denied a communication navigator when my speech began to slur.
18:38Agents laughed as I tried to immobilize my own neck.
18:44I asked for my cane and was told no, pulled up my arms and prodded forward and leg irons by
18:52agents laughing and saying,
18:53walk, you can do it, walk.
18:57Agents did not know if the facility had a wheelchair.
19:01When I was finally placed in one to be taken to interrogation, an agent taunted,
19:05you were driving, right, so your legs do work.
19:11I pleaded for emergency medical care for over an hour after my vision had become blurry.
19:16My heart rate went through the roof and the pain in my neck and head became unbearable.
19:20It was denied.
19:22When I became unable to speak, my cellmate pleaded for me.
19:27The last sounds I remember before I blacked out on the cell floor were my cellmate banging on the door,
19:34pleading for a medic and a voice outside saying, we don't want to step on ICE's toes.
19:40We call ourselves a civilized nation, but we lack rules and accountability around what a person claiming to be law
19:47enforcement
19:48is permitted to do to another human being.
19:52I am not afraid and I'm not afraid to keep working on this problem even after ICE is gone.
19:58Thank you for your time.
20:03That could happen to you.
20:05That could happen to your mother, your sister, your grandmother, your cousin.
20:09It could happen to anyone now in Donald Trump's America.
20:13And the video you're about to see proves that.
20:16What happened to Elayah Rahman?
20:18You're about to see in this video the most horrible cowards ever employed by the federal government at work
20:26for the most horrible coward to ever occupy the White House.
20:30The next 50s.
21:05The force is not off!
21:09The force is not off!
21:11You are not doing the last!
21:15No! No! No! No!
21:22Get the f*** out of my heart!
21:26Let them out!
21:31Let them out!
21:34No!visiblearde
21:40out! Please!
21:42I have
21:43been picked up by police new door! I have
21:44disabled so I can go to the doctor up there!
22:09Why don't you help someone?
22:39Why don't you help someone?
22:48All the crimes committed on these videos are committed by Donald Trump's invasion force
22:55cowards. Tonight, at this hour, as Yates would put it, we murmur name upon name
23:03of the victims. You will hear more of their testimony.
23:10Congressman Jamie Raskin joins us next.
23:16Antonio Romanucci, an attorney for Rene Good's family, testified to the Joint House Senate
23:21hearing today where not a single Republican showed up to offer one word of defense for
23:28the crimes committed by Donald Trump's invasion forces against American citizens in American
23:34cities.
23:37The United States legal system allows for individuals to pursue civil justice with the suit against
23:43the city, county, or state for the conduct of its officers and against the officers individually.
23:50These types of legal claims are made under what is called 42 U.S. Code, Section 1983.
23:57This was part of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1871, and this is essential for accountability
24:04when an officer behaves unconstitutionally. Keep in mind that this act is 155 years old
24:12and desperately needs an amendment. However, similar legal action against federal law enforcement
24:19officers like ICE or Border Patrol is not currently allowed under Section 1983.
24:26There is a current possible path of civil recovery through the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA,
24:32but this is challenging. It requires first the filing of a claim with the government agency
24:38that has harmed you, and then waiting up to six months for a reply.
24:43Our current paradox is that America should not require the permission of the federal government
24:49to sue the federal government for cases like Renee Good or Alex Freddie. If the government must give you
24:56permission to seek accountability for violation of constitutional rights, then your rights are just
25:01words on paper. There is a legislative remedy to this paradox. At the state level, Minnesota and
25:10other states can pass bills making it a state law to violate constitutional rights. In Illinois,
25:17we did this by signing House Bill 1312. Congress can remove this roadblock to federal accountability
25:25by amending Section 1983 and adding four words, as you, Senator Blumenthal, pointed out. So federal
25:33officers can be sued civilly if their conduct merits it. The current language spells out that state,
25:39county, and municipal law enforcement can be sued, and Congress would only need to add the words
25:45or the United States to the list of governments whose officers could be brought to civil justice.
25:51It's that simple. I'm urging you to consider this amendment and fix a 155-year-old problem.
26:01Leading off our discussion tonight, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He's the
26:05top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He will be chairman of the Judiciary Committee if the
26:09Democrats win the House of Representatives. And Congressman Raskin, that proposed change in law
26:15would come to your committee. What is your assessment of that proposal?
26:23Well, Lawrence, we've been fighting for this for the last several Congresses with my colleague Hank
26:28Johnson from Georgia. We have introduced legislation to create a federal Bivens action because the Supreme
26:37Court had originally allowed this. It's been successively undermined by subsequent decisions.
26:44So we could amend Section 1983 to sweep in federal officers. We could also amend the Federal Tort
26:51Claims Act so people could actually sue the government for damages. And we believe it's essential
26:57to solidify the social contract. The scenes that you just showed us are so gruesome and so demoralizing
27:05because what you see is a government at war with its own people. And the whole point of the social
27:11contract is that we will be safer entering into civil society together. That's what John Locke said.
27:18That's what Rousseau said. That's what Hobbes said. Then we would be if we stayed in a state of nature
27:23where it's just everybody fighting for themselves. Well, they're giving us a situation where we are no longer
27:30safer inside civil society. They've turned the social contract into a war of the government against the
27:38people. And so we have to restore the social contract. That's what we can do once we take back
27:45the Congress. But we are depending on people all over the country to stay in this fight. The heroic
27:52resistance that we've seen in Minneapolis is a model for what's got to take place all over America and in
27:58the upcoming No Kings rally. I was rereading the old Vaclav Havel essay that he wrote in 1978 called
28:08The Power of the Powerless, basically saying when you're up against an authoritarian regime,
28:13everybody's got to decide, are you going to live within the lie or are you going to step outside of
28:18the lie and live inside the truth? And I thought about that because I saw a sign at one of
28:23the rallies in
28:24Minneapolis, which said, we have eyes. Stop the lies. And I think that's where America is right now.
28:32So Congressman Garcia had a moment in the hearing where he said, I just want to remind people that
28:40Kristi Noem won't be secretary forever. Donald Trump won't be president forever, suggesting that three
28:47years from now or so we could have a Democratic president. We could have a new attorney general.
28:52That Justice Department would be empowered to do real criminal investigations of these shootings,
28:59of these beatings and of these arrests. And so those agents may all get a federal pardon from Donald Trump
29:10so that the federal government won't be able to do that in the next administration. But without that,
29:16that pardon, this remains an open possibility for the next Justice Department to investigate, doesn't it?
29:24Of course. Well, we're going to have real attorney generals again, people like Robert F. Kennedy,
29:29people like Edward Levy, people like Janet Reno. We are going to have a real Justice Department again.
29:34We are going to have a real criminal division again that brings criminal actions against government
29:41officials who violate the civil rights of the people. We are going to restore and we're going to fortify
29:48and improve the rule of law. And we know it's not as simple as just turning the clock back to
29:54the time before Donald Trump, because obviously those were the conditions that allowed for Donald Trump
29:59and mega to penetrate our society and take over our government. We're going to have to fortify democracy
30:06and freedom to make them much stronger going forward. And having been through this nightmare together
30:12and with the heroic resistance and opposition that we're seeing all over the country, we're going to
30:18make it through. We need to obviously mobilize the vote and keep winning the way we won in Virginia,
30:24in New Jersey, in California, in Alabama, the way we just won in Texas, a 31 point swing in a
30:31state
30:31Senate election. We're going to keep going and we have to defend those elections because Donald Trump,
30:36who obviously has no other program for America relating to health care, relating to housing for young
30:42people, relating to any public good, has one objective in mind, which is trying to steal the election
30:49the way he tried to steal it back in 2020 when he called the Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger
30:56in Georgia and said, I just want you to find me 11,780 votes. That wasn't Donald Trump trying to
31:02stop
31:02election fraud. That was Donald Trump trying to commit election fraud. And he did it all over the
31:07country and he will try again. But we are ready for him and we have people fighting all over America
31:13to defend the democratic institutions that we've got. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you very much
31:19for joining us tonight. You bet, Lawrence. Thank you. And coming up, 23 year old Daniel Rescon had his life
31:29changed in three minutes by Donald Trump's invasion force, who started shooting at the car that he was in
31:37for no reason. He lived to tell the story to Congress today. You'll hear his testimony next.
31:48The third victim of Donald Trump's invasion force to testify at today's hearing was Daniel Rescon.
31:54No Republican showed up to hear a word he or any of the other witnesses said about the crimes committed
32:01by Donald Trump's invasion forces. Daniel Rescon is 23 years old. He's the father of a three week old
32:09baby girl. He's a forklift operator who just got his dental assistant certification. And this is his story.
32:19The morning of August 20, August 16th, 2025 would quickly become unforgettable, especially because my
32:27future father-in-law Francisco Longoria wanted me to run an errand with him and his son. Jonathan,
32:34when all I really wanted to do was just sleep in. We took Jonathan's truck with him sitting in the
32:41passenger seat, Francisco driving, and me sitting behind Francisco when we were just two minutes away
32:47from home. At 8 49 a.m. two unmarked trucks suddenly boxed in our car. I had been looking down
32:55at my phone,
32:56but when our car abruptly stopped, I looked up thinking we must be at a red light or in a
33:01traffic
33:02jam. But to my surprise, I was instead met with four men in face masks, sunglasses,
33:10and baseball caps and guns drawn pointing straight at us walking towards our car.
33:17These four men then tried forcing their way into our car by pulling on the handles, pounding on the
33:24windows and yelling at us to roll down the windows, all while failing to answer our repeated requests
33:29for their identification and what they wanted. I did not know who these men were. They were refusing
33:34to identify themselves. And the only thing I felt I could do, I could control was capturing this event
33:41by recording it on my cell phone. There were two men on either side of the car and they were
33:46not
33:46wearing any uniform. I cannot tell who these men surrounding our car with guns were. We again asked
33:52them to show identification and why they were approaching us with so much aggression. Only seconds
33:57after they started pounding on the windows, one of the men broke the driver's side window,
34:01punched Francisco in the face, and began reaching into the car. At the same time, a man on the other
34:07side of
34:07the car broke the passenger window where Jonathan was sitting and began reaching into the vehicle.
34:14They shattered the windows and in that moment, the world, the whole world felt like it was the size
34:19of the inside of our pickup. And we were sitting in harm's way with nothing to do but record the
34:25horrifying experience. Terrified for our lives, Francisco brave, excuse me, Francisco bravely drove
34:34through the straight through the only open pathway down the street hoping to be driving towards safety.
34:40And we were instead met with gunfire. After we had passed the men, one of the four men attempted to
34:47murder us after we passed by as he fired and made contact with the passenger side of our car multiple
34:53times. I will never forget the fear and having to quickly duck my head as the shots were fired at
34:59the car.
35:01Any one of those bullets could have killed me or two people that I love. We narrowly escaped as pieces
35:09of glass fell on our heads as we drove down the bumpy road. Three minutes changed our lives forever.
35:16We then called 911 to report that four men who were hiding their identity assaulted and shot at us. By
35:239am,
35:23a police helicopter was flying over our property. Next thing we know, local officers showed up at our
35:28home, handcuffed Francisco, put him in the officer's car and began individually questioning us. The
35:35officers then allowed the same four men who had just attacked us to come to our home. Those four men
35:40were asked to identify who they were looking for, but they had zero idea as to who they were even
35:45targeting.
35:48Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury said this.
35:53This should not happen to anyone in America. It should not be happening to US citizens. It should
35:59not be happening to immigrants. It should not be happening to anyone in America. I don't care who
36:04you are or what your identity is or how your status is under the law in this country. This should
36:10not be
36:11happening in the United States and there are systems in place to provide a check and balance to make sure
36:17that this does not happen to people in our country. And so to hear your stories and to hear the
36:25violence that is
36:26being committed in our communities against our people and then to see White House officials, the President of the
36:35United States disparaging entire communities going after members of Congress, the Vice President
36:41telling the American people that these individuals have total immunity, to see Kristi Noem go on national
36:49television and lie about you, to lie about you, that they're tampering with evidence, and then to see that the
36:58actual agents committing these crimes, because I want to be clear, these are crimes.
37:04This is not in the line of duty. You don't shoot, murder, and harm people in the line of duty.
37:14That is a crime.
37:18And coming up, the last witnesses we will hear tonight are the brothers of Renee Good, who will honor
37:25their sister and give her voice in their testimony. That's next.
37:36They call her Nay. That's the short version of Renee that Renee Good's brothers use when they're
37:43talking about their sister. They were the first witnesses to testify in today's joint House Senate
37:48hearing, where not a single Republican showed up to offer one word of defense about the killing of Renee Good,
37:55which former Federal Prosecutor Richard Blumenthal, who also served as Connecticut's Attorney General,
38:00called murder in the hearing.
38:05My name is Luke Ganger, and I'm here with my brother Brent. Renee Good is our sister. In the last
38:15few weeks,
38:16our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Nay's death would bring about change in our country.
38:27And it is not. The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation.
38:43This is not just a bad day, or a rough week, or isolated incidents.
38:52These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.
39:02Our family is a very American blend. We vote differently, and we rarely completely agree on
39:12the finer details of what it means to be a citizen of this country.
39:17We attend various churches, and some not at all. And despite those differences,
39:24we have always treated each other with love and respect. And we've gotten even closer during
39:31this very divided time in our country. And we hope that our family can be even a small example
39:40to others, not to let political ideals divide us.
39:44When I think of Renee, I think of dandelions and sunlight.
39:49Dandelions don't ask permission to grow. They push through cracks in the sidewalk,
39:55through hard soil, through places where you don't expect beauty, and suddenly there they are, bright,
40:02alive. Unapologetically hopeful. That was Renee.
40:08Renee. In sunlight, warm, steady, life-giving, Renee loved fiercely, openly, and without hesitation.
40:20As a mother, Renee poured herself into love. The kind of love that shows up every day,
40:27that sacrifices quietly, that cheers loudly, that believes deeply. Her children were and are her heart.
40:44Walking around outside her body.
40:48And she made sure they felt safe, valued,
40:55and endlessly loved.
41:01As a sister, she was constant.
41:05Someone you could lean on, laugh with,
41:11or just sit in silence beside.
41:17She had a way of making you feel understood, even when you didn't have the words yet.
41:22She didn't just listen, she saw you.
41:25She believed that kindness mattered, and she lived that belief.
41:29Even when things were hard, Renee looked for the light.
41:34And if she couldn't find it, she became the light for somebody else.
41:38That's why the image of dandelions feels so right.
41:42People try to pull them up, overlook them, dismiss them,
41:47but they keep coming back, stronger, brighter,
41:52spreading seeds of hope everywhere they land.
41:56Renee planted those seeds in all of us.
42:02And her children.
42:08In her family.
42:15In friends, co-workers, and people,
42:18who maybe didn't even realize they needed her light at the time.
42:22In sunlight.
42:23Sunlight doesn't ask for recognition.
42:26It just gives.
42:27It warms, it nurtures, it helps things grow.
42:31Renee did that for us.
42:32She helped us grow.
42:34She helped us believe in ourselves.
42:37She helped us see the good, even when life felt heavy.
42:43Renee is not gone from us.
42:46She's in the light that finds us on hard days.
42:48She's in the resilience we didn't know we had until we needed it.
42:53She's in the laughter, the memories, the love that continues to grow.
42:57Like dandelions, like sunlight, and like Renee.
Comments