By Derri Crenshaw | Staff Writer

On Dec. 31, Keith Porter was fatally shot by an off-duty ice agent when celebrating the New Year. His family is still searching for answers today. Then, on Jan. 7, Renée Good was trying to drive away from agents when several shots were fired into her car. Most recently, on Jan. 25, agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in response to him defending a fellow protestor. Each encounter has one thing in common, the fatal assault of innocent civilians by untrained agents. 

The current administration under President Donald Trump is trying consistently to make this baseless violence our new normal. This violence we ignore; we accept it as something that happens to other people, less fortunate people (those less fortunate who are still our neighbors, our community members, our teachers, daycare workers, doctors, and family and friends) until it happens to us. But while this is not normal, such violence is a dark part of America’s own history that has never gone away, although repressed and hidden, but has continuously festered underneath.

While we are being reminded of the atrocities that happened during World War II in Germany, as Ashley B, historian and educator on TikTok has put it: “ICE isn’t the Gestapo. They’re closer to slave catchers and once that clicks, a lot of people get real uncomfortable real fast.” As she points out, both ICE and slave catchers were legally supported by the government. Both used fear as a weapon onto innocent people, based solely upon how they look. The NAACP has written that, “The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror and squash slave uprisings with the capacity to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners. Tactics included the use of excessive force to control and produce desired slave behavior.” Both conflate legality (while ICE has broken many laws and continues to do so) with morality, employing people who thrive on hatred, anger and retaliation, seeking victims to punish because deep down they know control, violence and power over the “others” will provide a “purpose.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re a citizen of this country or not– anyone can be targeted, especially if you’re a Black or brown person. One of ICE’s strategies that is now being pushed even more is the use of plain clothes, masked agents and unmarked vehicles. Of course this causes more confusion and fear– how do you know who is attempting to detain you? La Nacion, an Argentine newspaper, also points out this tactic allows agents to hide who they are so there is even less chance that they will be held accountable for their actions if there was any accountability in the first place. 

I urge everyone to stay alert and keep resisting. Part of the problem is the idea that if discussion about racism is stopped, if we stop discussing things that people do not understand are in fact problems, those problems will disappear. However, history informs us otherwise. Keep talking about current events, what has led us here and what the community can do to make things better. Staying silent will get us nowhere. No issue is too small to analyze and question. We no longer need to listen to those in power who determine that what matters to the community is worthless. 

Sources:

Gonzalez, David. “Family of Man Shot and Killed by Off-Duty Ice Agent Seeks Answers at La Police Commission Meeting.” ABC7 Los Angeles, January 13, 2026. https://abc7.com/post/keith-porter-family-man-shot-killed-off-duty-ice-agent-northridge-seeks-answers-la-police-commission-meeting/18396677/. 

Sanchez, Ray. “Whistles, Then Gunfire: How the Deadly Ice Shooting Unfolded in Minneapolis.” CNN, January 10, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/10/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-renee-good. 

Sekulich, Harry. “Federal Agent Shoots Man in Leg after Minneapolis Shovel Attack, Officials Say.” BBC News, January 15, 2026. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c205677pxvxo. 

Foy, Nicole, and McKenzie Funk. “Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds on U.S. Citizens.” ProPublica, January 13, 2026. https://www.propublica.org/article/videos-ice-dhs-immigration-agents-using-chokeholds-citizens. 

B, Ashley. “Make Your Day.” TikTok. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleytheebarroness/video/7594675784980172062?_r=1&_t=ZT-936onkkLKbF. 

“La Nueva Estrategia Del Ice En Illinois En 2026: Agentes de Civil En Chicago.” LA NACION, January 14, 2026. https://www.lanacion.com.ar/estados-unidos/illinois/la-nueva-estrategia-del-ice-en-illinois-en-2026-agentes-de-civil-en-chicago-nid13012026/. 

Nguyen, Alex, and Noah Lanard. “Video Contradicts Trump Administration Account of Minneapolis Killing.” Mother Jones, January 24, 2026. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/video-contradicts-minneapolis-shooting-dhs-trump-alex-pretti/. 

“The Origins of Modern Day Policing.” NAACP, December 3, 2021. https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing.