Our Boston Massacre Moment
The parallels are striking and undeniable. An unpopular, external military force shoots and kills protesters haranguing the officers, demanding they leave. Snowballs are thrown.
British soldiers panicked and fired on the crowd in Boston, killing five and wounding six more.
More than 255 years later, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot three times and killed Renee Good, mother of three, as she attempted to leave the scene.
What became known as the Boston Massacre in 1770 inflamed the colonists and dramatically escalated resistance to British tyranny. It rallied the population for independence and became an important precursor to the American Revolutionary War.
The British soldiers were arrested for murder the next morning and, controversially, were represented by John Adams at trial, who believed above all else in justice, due process, and the rule of law. (Adams later became America’s second president.)
What will happen now after the murder of Renee Good? Despite the obvious similarities with the Boston Massacre, there are differences too.
There is no John Adams for the officer, just a collection of inexperienced sycophants now populating the Justice Department. Perhaps that’s one more reason why Jonathan Ross, the officer who fired through the windshield and side windows of Good’s car was immediately whisked away and protected by ICE, which has blocked access to evidence and refused to allow Minnesota officials to be part of any investigation.
Unlike the Boston Massacre, the details of which remain murky (were the soldiers ordered to fire on the crowd?), there is video of the killing in Minneapolis for all the world to see. It is shocking and unambiguous.
We cannot sit by idly any longer. We must demand an open trial of this ICE officer. We must peacefully stand and be heard, here and across the nation, that this militarized, deliberately provocative invasion of our cities cannot continue. Let this be our Boston Massacre moment.
