In a rare and humanizing moment captured on video, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a protester in Minnesota shared a heartfelt hug during demonstrations following the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
The encounter occurred on Thursday, one day after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was killed during an immigration operation in Minneapolis. As protests grew around the country, a protester—armed with a bullhorn and gas mask—and a uniformed Border Patrol agent struck up a conversation.
The agent, identifying himself as a U.S. Air Force veteran, sought common ground with the protester, who claimed military service of her own. After lighthearted banter about military branches—with the protester teasing, “If you’d been a Marine, I would have brought you some crayons”—the agent said, “I love you. I want to hug you.”
The protester consented, and the agent stepped out of formation to embrace her warmly as she smiled.
“We have a heart, you know what I mean,” the agent said afterward.
Their conversation continued, touching on race and family. The protester, who is white, urged agents with immigrant backgrounds to call their mothers and grandmothers, saying, “They are worried about you.” The agent, who identified as not white, held out his hands in response.
The protester later pleaded with him, “If you do want to stay in Border Patrol, for God’s sake, quit protecting ICE.”
The moment offered a brief respite from the heightened national tensions surrounding immigration enforcement, highlighting a personal connection between individuals on opposite sides of a deeply polarized issue.
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