Missoula Holds Candlelight Vigil for Renee Good, Victim of ICE Shooting

MISSOULA — Roughly 600 people gathered on Beartracks Bridge on Sunday evening to honor Renee Good, a Minnesota mother and poet who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

The vigil, organized by Indivisible Missoula and Missoula Resists, also marked the deaths of others killed by ICE agents during the second term of President Donald Trump. 

There were more than 1,000 “Ice Out for Good” events planned for the weekend, according to the coalition of organizing groups. Protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis, New York City, and Washington, D.C., on Saturday and Sunday. Demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, rallied Saturday outside of a hospital where ICE brings detainees injured during arrests, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Federal agents shot and injured two people in Portland on Jan. 8. 

About 100 people joined a vigil held by community groups outside Helena’s federal courthouse on Friday. Vigils and protests were planned in recent days in Bozeman, Butte, Red Lodge, Kalispell, Whitefish and Lake County, according to the national coalition. 

In Missoula, many vigil participants held candles and stopped to read three cardboard signs listing the names of more than 30 people, along with Good, who died in ICE custody in 2025 and so far in 2026. Signs also included the name Keith Porter, Jr., who was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. 

Organizer Meredith Printz of Missoula said the groups decided on a candlelight vigil without speeches for solemnity. 

“Human lives have value, and it just feels like this regime does not see it that way,” she said. “We need to honor the people that have fallen and call attention to what’s going on and give people a chance to come together and mourn and raise our voices in song.” 

At 4:45 p.m., people threw blocks and cubes of ice into the Clark Fork River to represent the demand for ICE to leave communities. Robin Brown, who stood by one of the several coolers of ice stationed along the bridge, said she attended the vigil because “what’s happening in our country is wrong and what happened to Renee Good is horrendous.” 

“I just want to stand up and say, ‘I won’t tolerate this,’’’ she said. “It’s not what the American people believe in as a whole.” 

Barron Peper with Missoula Sings, a group that organizes community gatherings, led the group in several songs, including “And When I Rise” and “This Little Light of Mine.” 

Peper said song can help people connect more deeply during protests. 

“So often we don’t just need solutions and actions,” he said. “We need to feel things, and we need to feel things together and have experiences together so we can metabolize what’s happening so that when we actually go out and do something, it’s coming from a place that is grounded in togetherness not in reactivity and anger or hate.” 

Throughout the hour-long vigil, cars crossing the Beartracks Bridge honked in support of the group. Many people were holding signs honoring Good or with anti-ICE slogans, including “ICE out now,” “Justice for Renee Good,” and “We saw the video,” referring to the dueling descriptions of the incident leading to Good’s death. 

Protester Sophie Trudgeon held a fabric sign that read “I’m pissed” on one side and “f— ICE” on the other. 

“I’m just really upset by the actions of ICE and the entire Trump administration,” she said. “I feel like they’re violating [the] Constitution, civil rights and really attacking our Black and brown neighbors who have made this country so great.” 

Rose Zee, an organizer with Missoula Resists, said the group has taken several immigration-related actions in the last year, including holding protests and encouraging outreach to elected officials.

“We’re seeing first-hand communities that are terrified, communities that are being torn apart and lives lost,” she said. “All of us are grieving separately. It’s really important that we come together as a community, and what you can see today with the hundreds … [of] people who are here is that our community is distraught, and our community is ready to take action. And so we’re happy to provide a way for people to come together, find community, but also figure out how they can take action.” 

ICE IN MONTANA

In Montana, the most recent high-profile ICE action occurred in July 2025 when federal officers detained Christopher Martinez Marvin following a traffic stop. The 31-year-old Mexican citizen had been living in Helena on and off since 2008. Law enforcement officers were jointly pursuing a different man who they said was subject to a criminal warrant when they pulled over Martinez Marvan in an apparent case of mistaken identity. Martinez Marvan was taken to a Customs and Border Patrol station and then to the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls, according to court documents. Attorneys for Martinez Marvin argued for his release, saying racial profiling led to his arrest. A federal judge denied his petition for release, citing a lack of jurisdiction over the case. 

The incident sparked outrage across the state. Helena community members demanded information from officials. Missoula residents gathered outside the federal courthouse to express support for Martinez Marvin during a July hearing. Cascade County Detention Center is the only jail in Montana with a contract to hold immigration detainees for longer than 72 hours, and Great Falls residents condemned the county’s role during a July meeting. That same month, the Flathead Beacon reported that U.S. Border Patrol officers arrested eight people over the course of two traffic stops in Whitefish. 

The following month, ICE reportedly took 17 people into custody at a construction site in Bigfork. In May of last year, immigration authorities deported eight children, some of whom are U.S. citizens, following the arrest of 21 people near the Montana-Canada border. 

Last fall, authorities arrested and detained Justin Grzeb, a United Kingdom citizen who married a U.S. citizen. Grzeb was riding his bike in Havre when a Customs and Border Protection officer reportedly pulled him over. A mother and daughter from Honduras who were living in the Flathead Valley were arrested and detained in November after arriving at the scene of a car crash.