OCEAN CITY — The shooting death of U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good by a federal agent in Minneapolis sparked protests in communities across the nation over the weekend. That included some 175 people gathered Sunday afternoon on the boardwalk in front of the Ocean City Music Pier.
“People are just so sad and upset at where our country’s going. We don’t know how to fix it,” said Lorraine Fitzpatrick, a co-leader of Indivisible Ocean City, which has sponsored multiple protests in the resort over the past year.
“This is what we can do. We can’t understand how the other side thinks. That’s our problem,” she said.
Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in a highly disputed and widely covered incident Jan. 7. Federal officials assert the agent was fearing for his life as Good attempted to drive her vehicle away from officers.
The agent shot her repeatedly in the face in what he claimed was self-defense. Others believe he overreacted and was not in danger. The incident has been replayed countless times on television news and social media from multiple angles.
Indivisible quickly organized Sunday’s “ICE Out For Good” rally. Other rallies last year in Ocean City drew hundreds to thousands of protesters showing their opposition to the Trump Administration and its policies.
Fitzpatrick said the reason Indivisible has been able to draw so many people to protest in the resort, including on a chilly, wet Sunday afternoon in the winter, is that they “speak to everybody else who thinks the same way we do. When I walk around and talk to people, they say, ‘Thank you for doing this.’ We just need to know there’s other people out there and we get some relief by coming out and being able to talk with other people.”
Fitzpatrick pointed out there is stress not just between strangers but also among friends and within families.
“I can’t talk to my son. You know, we don’t talk about politics at all. There’s tension there. And other people have said the same thing,” she said.
Fitzpatrick said the organizers also got a solid turnout for a candlelight vigil Friday night in Sea Isle City. More Indivisible protests are planned this year, including a No Kings 3 some time in late March.
“There are people all over this county who are protesting every single day,” she said, noting protests that were taking place the same day in Cape May Court House and in Atlantic City in neighboring Atlantic County.
“We have to do this. I just feel the need. I can’t sit at home,” she said. “I’m afraid to just sit at home and watch the news.”
Karen Holloway of Marmora was carrying a sign that said “DHS is protecting a murderer,” referring to the Department of Homeland Security, which came out right after the incident to proclaim the officer’s innocence before an investigation.
“I’ve been protesting since the ’80s, but this one in particular, the thing that is sticking with me is that this ICE agent, in the video I saw, he rounded her car, he called her an effing bitch,” she said, then shot her, walked away and got into a vehicle and left. “And DHS is protecting him. I can’t get that out of my head.
“I cannot get over this. It is weighing on me so heavily,” Holloway said. “And I just can’t believe that this is happening and I will try to do everything that I can to help turn things around.”
Terry Camoratto of Ocean City was carrying a sign that read “We Are a Melting Pot.” She agreed with Holloway on her reasons for coming out to the Ocean City protest.
“I just can’t believe what is happening in the world, that evil is winning and positivity is lessening,” she said. “And I always keep it positive. You don’t see me ever with a sign that says something nasty. I want unity and love and freedom and diversity.”
Gaye Pessolano of Cape May carried a sign with a quote from late singer-songwriter John Prine: “I still love America. I just don’t know how to get there anymore.”
She said injustice is what motivated her to attend the rally.
“The injustice, not just with the shooting, with ICE, but this entire Trump regime, his Gestapo. I can barely talk. It’s just been so overwhelming since 2026 even started,” said Pessolano, who grew up in Ocean City.
“I just think we really have to make some changes. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I just can’t believe this is my country anymore,” she said. “It just is so devastating to me. And I’ve been protesting since the ’70s. I never could have envisioned this is where I would be, when I’m almost 70 now,” she said.
“I’m so against what is happening with ICE now,” said Cindi Gant of Millville, holding a sign calling for impeachment and to “remove the entire Trump fascist administration.”
“They are out of control. Noem is way out of control. She needs to go,” Gant said of Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
“We’re all made of immigrants. Why are we now against immigrants? Why are we against our democracy? He (Trump) wants to go fight Iran because their people want democracy,” Gant said. “And yet he’s fighting us here for our democracy. I’ve got grandchildren. I want them to grow up in the world that I grew up in, not in what he’s trying to make for us,” she said.
Rosanna Racamato of Somers Point agreed with Gant.
“I want this world to be better for my kids and future grandchildren. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” she said, “so I’ve been protesting from the beginning.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
