More than 850 people marched silently in downtown La Grange Sunday afternoon, Jan. 11, to mourn the death of Renee Nicole Good, shot to death by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month.
“That’s three times as many people who signed up,” said Mary Ann Quinlan, who is on the leadership team of Indivisible West Suburban Chicago.
“It was very short notice,” Quinlan, 68, of Western Springs, said. The protest was not publicized until Jan. 9.
According to www.Indivisble.org, more than 1,000 protests were held nationwide for the “ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action.”
“People really care. People are fed up because ICE is operating outside of their authority. (Laws) do apply but they don’t pay any attention. That’s the point, I think” Quinlan said.
ICE is short for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Agents for ICE, often masked, have been placing into custody undocumented immigrants since shortly after President Trump took office a year ago.
Quinlan spoke as protestors, many carrying signs, quietly marched along La Grange Road. The death of Good, she said, “could be” a turning point.
“It’s interesting to me that this killing of Renee Good happened not very far from where George Floyd was killed,” she said.
Floyd was the Black man who in May 2020 was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, resulting in protests around the nation and world, including one in downtown La Grange.
“The video (of Good’s death) is so compelling. … When people can see something with their own eyes. Then, they hear the lies,” she said.
Quinlan referred to those in the Trump Administration who have called Good a “domestic terrorist.”
They say she allegedly tried to run over an ICE agent with her vehicle. She was shot three times in the face.
Ernie Kaminski, 69, of Riverside, said “when you look at the video, it appears a crime has been committed.” His sign read “Defund ICE.”
Before the march, those gathered heard from a few speakers on the steps of First Congregational Church of La Grange at the corner of Cossitt Avenue and La Grange Road.
Betsy Shea, 49, of La Grange, said actions of ICE agents “are endangering our communities,” adding, “we won’t stand for it.”
“We are here today to demand accountability for the killings and an end to ICE and Customs and Border Protection Agency raids. We will not sit by when violence goes unanswered and our communities are terrorized,” Shea said.
“Your participation today sends a strong message,” she told those gathered before leading them in a rendition of Woody Guthrie’s famous folk song “This Land is Your Land” with the poignant lyric “this land was made for you and me.”
A somber moment came with the reading of the names of 32 people who died in ICE custody in 2025.
Jon Platt, 74, of Brookfield, talked of his 10 years working at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
“I was a social worker. … We treated everybody equally. In those 10 years, I never heard anyone in that hospital staff ever complain that immigrants were taking up our resources. Never,” Platt said.
Patti Gillespie, 67, of Lombard, teared up when she said, “I’m here to defend democracy.”
“I’m outraged by what’s happening with the current administration and I believe in the power of the people,” Gillespie said.
Protestors marched along La Grange Road from the church north to Burlington Avenue where they crossed La Grange Road and continued south back to Cossitt.
Holding a sign that read, “Accountability Now,” Denise Carlson, “65-ish,” of La Grange said “you’ve got to keep it going” regarding protests of the Trump Administration and ICE.
“Just like the Epstein files,” Carlson said. “You’ve got to keep pushing.”