Hundreds of demonstrators rallied with Arlington officials in Courthouse yesterday (Sunday) in protest of immigration enforcement killing a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.
“I have dedicated 24 years of my life protecting Arlington because I believe law enforcement is supposed to protect the community by building trusting relationships,” Arlington Sheriff Jose Quiroz told the crowd gathered in Courthouse Plaza. “ICE is doing the opposite. The way they are operating does not keep us safe.”
Joining Quiroz at the rally hosted by We of Action Virginia (WofA) were leaders including Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, County Board member J.D. Spain Sr., School Board members Monique Bryant and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley, and the Rev. DeLishia Davis, who is president of the Arlington NAACP.
Punctuated with chants of “we will not be silenced” and “no more masks,” and songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “This Land is Your Land,” the event protested the death of 37-year-old Renee Good. It was followed by a similar rally in Alexandria as anti-ICE protests swept across the country this weekend.
“We know the truth. We saw the videos. It was an execution,” Dehghani-Tafti declared.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Good through the windshield of her moving vehicle last week, according to videos of the incident. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said that Good was trying to “ram” the officer who, she says, acted in self-defense — a claim disputed by Minneapolis leaders and other critics who point to footage showing that Good’s tires were turned away from the officer as, they say, she was attempting to drive away from him after he moved in front of her car.
Noem described the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism” in a press conference shortly after it took place, a conclusion that has angered Minnesota policymakers who note that a federal investigation into the incident is still taking place. She has underscored the circumstances of the incident, alleging that Good was impeding a law enforcement investigation by blocking a road with her SUV as activists confronted ICE officers.
But Dehghani-Tafti added her voice to criticisms of ICE agents’ actions, noting that the officer who shot Good had walked around her car, filming her with his cellphone, while another officer tugged at her door handle.
“Law enforcement officers are public servants, and they are not an occupying army,” Dehghani-Tafti said. “As chief law enforcement official of our community, I’m here to tell you, we are a free people.”
She accused federal officials of trying to “dehumanize” Good and “gaslight all of us.”
Speakers addressed the crowd over a display of more than 30 pairs of shoes, which they said represented the number of people who have died in ICE custody since the start of 2025. Two speakers became visibly emotional later in the rally as they read a list of these people’s names.
WofA President Micaela Pond said the event was intended to honor the life of Good, a poet and mother of three who studied at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, and to protest ICE’s actions across the country, including in Arlington.
“We are here to stand together today for justice, accountability and community care,” Pond said. “We are standing in solidarity with Minnesota, with Oregon, with communities across the country to say, the violence must end.”
Other WofA members condemned conditions at Virginia’s ICE detention centers and called on attendees to contact members of Congress and senators to reduce funding for ICE and support legislation to require judicial warrants for arrests and searches, keep ICE out of schools, hospitals and churches and ban ICE officers from covering their faces.
“What happened to Renee Good affects us all. What happens to our immigrant neighbors affects us all. The fear spreading through our communities diminishes us all,” Davis said.
Spain described ICE’s actions as a threat to Arlington’s “way of life” and an attempt to “pit us against each other.”
“Over the past year, ICE has lost [the] trust and confidence of far too many citizens,” the County Board member said. “Trust is not optional in a democracy. It is earned through accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law.”
The U.S. Marine Corps veteran described Arlington and other communities as “under attack,” adding, “I don’t mind going to war. I don’t mind fighting back.”
“Real leadership calls us to unity: unity in defending civil rights, unity in holding anyone accountable — without exception — when those rights are violated,” Spain said. “No one is above the law, and no community should live in fear.”
