Dozens of people gathered outside the Norfolk Federal Building Friday afternoon to protest the death of Old Dominion University graduate Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent in Minneapolis, and other violence the federal agency has taken against U.S. citizens in the last week.
One of Good’s former professors, ODU English professor Heather Weddington told the crowd Good is more than just a symbol of violence perpetrated by law enforcement.
She told protestors she remembers Good as an enthusiastic student who sat in the center back of the classroom with a bright smile.
“I remember that smile that just sort of lit up her whole face whenever somebody said something that really got at the heart of a poem or a story or an idea,” Weddington said.
“I remember being really impressed with her about how big her life was and how expansive it was already (for someone) that's so young, and how expansive she wanted her life to be, and how willing she was to expand her world.”
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Hampton Roads residents organized an anti-ICE rally and vigil on Jan. 9, 2026 to honor Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. Speakers included local immigration advocates, lawmakers and one of of Good’s former ODU professors.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Dozens of people attended a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. At the Norfolk rally, community leaders spoke out against federal immigration enforcement and remembered Good with a memorial and candles.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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An attendee holds a sign with names of people killed by ICE agents across the country.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Attendees at an anti-ICE rally hold photos of two people with ties to Hampton Roads who died during interactions with ICE. Renee Nicole Good, a graduate of Old Dominion University, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. Josué Castro-Rivera was hit by a car in Norfolk in October while being chased by ICE agents.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Old Dominion University English professor Heather Weddington speaks at a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Weddington taught Good when she attended ODU and read one of Good’s award-winning poems to rally-goers.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Flowers, photos and candles gather as a memorial to Renee Nicole Good at the rally and vigil on Jan. 9, 2026 outside the Norfolk Federal Building.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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A rally-goer in Norfolk holds a candle to honor Renee Nicole Good, the woman shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Good attended Old Dominion University.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Dozens of people attended a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. At the Norfolk rally, community leaders spoke out against federal immigration enforcement and remembered Good with a memorial and candles.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Dozens of people attended a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. At the Norfolk rally, community leaders spoke out against federal immigration enforcement and remembered Good with a memorial and candles.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Dozens of people attended a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. At the Norfolk rally, community leaders spoke out against federal immigration enforcement and remembered Good with a memorial and candles.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
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Dozens of people attended a vigil and protest event on Jan. 9, 2026 in Norfolk to honor Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Good was a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University. At the Norfolk rally, community leaders spoke out against federal immigration enforcement and remembered Good with a memorial and candles.
Photo by Zach D. Roberts
Good, who was known as Renee Macklin while attending ODU, graduated with an English degree in 2020. The creative writing student and U.S. citizen won a poetry award from the university the same year.
She was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis while trying to maneuver her car out of the agent’s way.
The Trump administration claimed Good was trying to run ICE agents over with her car and that the shooting was in self-defense.
Videos of the interaction show Good was cooperating with the agent who shot her and trying to move out of his way. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey say Trump’s account isn’t true and an analysis by the New York Times shows none of the agents, including the one who shot Good, were in the path of the car.
The Associated Press reports Good was at least the fifth person killed in the course of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, including a Honduran gardener who was hit and killed on a highway in Norfolk as he fled immigration officers on foot after a traffic stop in October.
Rocco DeBellis attended the protest in Norfolk because he said it was important to make it clear current events aren’t acceptable.
“I try to describe it as a native New Yorker, that pit in my stomach that I felt during 9/11 when those buildings came down,” DeBellis said. “I saw all my friends dying (and) I just felt like we needed to do something. And I feel that feeling again today because of what's going on and how these people are treating Americans and anybody that's a citizen here.
“This isn't the country I grew up in. I don't recognize it. I don't like it. My family are immigrants themselves, and so I don't know. This ICE thing is a is a real problem.”
Norfolk Del. Jackie Glass attended the protest to encourage attendees to look after one another. She said her abilities as a state lawmaker are limited when it comes to changing rules around federal immigration enforcement, but people can still each other.
“What is the best thing that we can do right here in this moment? What would Renee want us to do for our community?” she asked the crowd. “Let's say it. Be a good neighbor. Build a community. Love, openly.”
