'Diseased mind': Columnist says ICE actions prove her 'dark thought' about US is a reality

Reports of recent shootings from ICE agents highlight the "diseased mind and soul" of the US under Donald Trump, a political commentator has said.

Renee Nicole Good was shot dead by ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier this week, while in a separate incident in Portland, two people were shot and hospitalized by a Border Patrol agent. Political commentator Moira Donegan, writing in The Guardian, suggested the two shootings and the Trump administration's response to the death of Good are indicative of "diseased" rhetoric.

Donegan denounced the "moral degeneracy" which is "represented by the immigration agents and those who command them", highlighting that it "represents a core truth of the American spirit".

She wrote, "...that ours is a country diseased in mind and soul, incapable of fulfilling the lofty goals of dignity and equality for all that have so long animated our national myths. There is some truth in this dark thought."

Crucially though, resistance and protests against ICE have highlighted the distaste for their actions across the country. Donegan argues those who have "faced down the kidnappers and the bullies" are a larger force than those who want to pursue the "moral degeneracy".

She wrote, "But there is another truth, too: that everywhere ICE goes, they have been met with ridicule, resistance, and contempt from ordinary Americans, unarmed and unbending, who have faced down the kidnappers and bullies in persistent protests and street actions – sometimes even succeeding in freeing a kidnapped neighbor or bullying the thugs out of their neighborhoods."

"This, too, is a truth of this country: that people like Martinez, and like Good, are more numerous than the racists and the autocrats."

Opposition to the ICE shooting and actions came through from both ex-GOP representative Adam Kinzinger and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

Kimmel denounced the administration's stance on the shooting, with Kristi Noem suggesting the ICE officer was merely "following his training".

He said, ""How stupid do you think we are? That's not just an insult to Renee Good, that's an insult to every law enforcement everywhere. They're not trained to do that."

Kinzinger added in a separate video earlier this week, "If this doesn't wake the American people up, and if this doesn't create enough pushback on the administration, I fear what is next. I fear what this escalation chain does."