ICE Agent Kills Woman, News Focuses On His 'Previous Dragging'
Mainstream media, including The Independent, reports the identification of ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who fatally shot Renée Nicole Good. The article prominently highlights that Ross was 'dragged in a separate incident by a fleeing driver last year.' (A bullet to an unarmed woman pales in comparison to an agent's scraped knee, apparently.) This framing subtly shifts the narrative, painting the agent
as a veteran of perils rather than focusing squarely on the lethal use of force against an individual whose only alleged crime was being a passenger. One might wonder if the media's job is to protect institutional narratives or to report on the lethal consequences of state power. Instead of questioning why an armed ICE agent engaged in a situation that led to a fatal shooting, we're offered a
backstory that, intentionally or not, elicits sympathy for the shooter. How many times must we witness agents escalate situations to deadly outcomes before the institutional culture is examined, rather than the prior 'hardship' of the agent?