Luke and Brent Ganger, the brothers of Renee Good, the Minneapolis queer mother of three who was shot and killed by a federal immigration officer last month, testified at a public congressional forum on Tuesday about the deadly use of force used against U.S. citizens and others by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
In a tear-filled testimony, Luke Ganger told lawmakers that he hoped his sister’s slaying would compel federal immigration authorities to change their aggressive street tactics. But, he added, “It has not,” The Hill reported.
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“The completely surreal scenes on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation,” he said. “This is beyond a bad day or a rough week. ICE agents are changing the community and the lives of many others forever. I still don’t know how to explain to my 4-year-old what these agents are doing.”
“These encounters with federal agents are changing the community, and changing many lives, including ours, forever,” he said, according to The New York Times.
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Luke Ganger said that he and his siblings grew up in an “American blend” of a family whose members had different political views and opinions on “what it means to be a citizen.” His family could serve as an example to others of how to “not let political ideals divide us,” he said.
Reading from the eulogy that he gave at Good’s funeral, Brent Ganger called his slain sister “unapologetically hopeful,” adding, “She had a way of making you feel understood even if you didn’t have the words yet. Renee is not gone from us. She is in the light that finds us on bad days.”
The brothers’ testimony was just part of a larger forum organized by out gay House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ranking member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT.)
During the forum, Chicago, Illinois resident Marimar Martinez shared her experience of being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent. Federal officials dropped their assault case against her despite initially accusing her of being a domestic terrorist and ramming her vehicle into that of a Customs and Border Protection agent who then shot her several times. Federal officials kept the agent’s vehicle from undergoing a forensic examination, and text revealed the agent bragging about shooting Martinez.
“[Federal agents] are targeting individuals who fit a certain profile, who simply have a certain accent, a non-white skin color, just like me,” she said at the congressional forum. “How many more lives must be lost before meaningful action is taken?”
San Bernardino, California resident Martin Daniel Rascon described federal officers shooting his vehicle and later raiding his home, arresting him and his brother-in-law. “[The agents had] no idea who they were looking for,” Rascon said. Nevertheless, federal agents detained his brother-in-law for weeks before releasing him.
Garcia said at the hearing, “We’re seeing the results of powerful people with no respect for the constitution, no respect for the law, no respect for humility.”
Because Democrats are in the congressional minority, the forum was not an official congressional hearing. As such, its testimony wasn’t preserved in the congressional record, and the forum’s organizers had no power to subpoena federal officials to testify.
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