THIS WEEK'S EPISODE:

Episode #1043: Organized Bombardment
First Broadcast: 1/19/25
On January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jonathan Ross approached Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, and fired three bullets at her head as she was driving her car and speaking to him, killing her, while other agents denied her medical attention as she died. Almost immediately afterwards, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended Ross's killing of Good, characterizing it as "defensive" and calling Good's actions--which were, reminder, merely driving while speaking to Ross--"domestic terrorism," a claim which was echoed later that day by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. President Donald Trump said Good had "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense" and said Ross "is now recovering in the hospital." However, not long after Good's death, several videos of her killing were released on the internet; and to me and many others who watched them, this looked like an unprovoked murder by Ross, who also appeared to be completely uninjured by Good. In response to remarks by DHS, Trump, and others, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said "I've seen the video ... Don't believe this propaganda machine," while the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, put it more bluntly, calling DHS and Noem's claims "bullshit," and telling ICE to "get the fuck out of Minneapolis." Not too long after that, protests against Good's killing, against ICE's presence in Minnesota, and against ICE in general sprung up all across the nation. In response, agents from ICE apparently ramped up their attacks on students and protestors, their kidnappings of people regardless of their citizenship status, and their terrorizing of the populace in general, effectively making the entire situation worse by their very presence. This reminded me of an infamous remark made by Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, in response to the riots instigated by the Chicago Police Department against people protesting the Democratic National Convention there in August, 1968: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." In a similar vein, ICE is not making Minnesota (or anywhere else) more safe while it's there; it's making Minnesota less safe every day it remains there. You would think maybe the National Rife Association would have something to say about this, the literal armed federal agents terrorizing ordinary Americans that were supposedly one of the reasons why Americans should be arming themselves for the last few decades, but so far they've been nothing but crickets on this issue--just like they were with Philando Castile, not too long ago. Some Democrats, like Representatives Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, seem to have read the room correctly and condemned ICE and federal officials' defense of this killing, while others like Representive Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer shied away from endorsing any actions that might restrain ICE in the future (one of many reasons why someone should challenge Schumer in the primary if he runs again in 2028). Other presidents in the past have tried to de-escalate tensions during similar times of unrest; but Trump appears to be hell-bent on doubling and tripling down on escalating the violence instead, so who knows when any of this will end, or even what this country might look like when it's finally over? I wish I could end this episode on a better note, but maybe the best advice I can give for now in the face of all this overwhelming awfulness is to try and hang in there, and "Be Good." What other choice do we have?

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So, what is Free New York anyway? The simple answer is that it's a this neat little public access TV show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network which I co-produce with the tremendous help of my camerawoman/editor/everything else, Kim. The complicated answer is that it's a project of mine to broadcast opinions and events which don't always appear within "the mainstream media" (like The New York Times, the major networks, local radio, etc.), and so far I think it's been working.

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last updated January 18, 2026
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