“Afraid for His Life” Is the Oldest Alibi in Male Violence

Renée Good is dead, an ICE agent says he felt threatened, and America is once again being asked to value a man’s fear over a woman’s life.

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There is a sentence that appears with chilling reliability whenever a man with a gun kills someone who did not need to die.

“I was afraid for my life.”

It arrives quickly, confidently, and with an expectation of obedience. It is meant to end the conversation before it really begins. To redirect our attention away from the body on the ground and toward the feelings of the person who caused it.

That sentence is being used again now, after the killing of Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a thirty seven year old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026.

According to federal officials, the agent acted in self defense. They claimed Renée Good weaponized her vehicle. But video footage of the incident has raised serious doubts about that narrative, and the mayor of Minneapolis has publicly stated that the Department of Homeland Security’s account does not align with what the footage shows.