The Minnesota Timberwolves decided this week that a professional basketball game was the appropriate venue for a political statement, and the result was exactly what anyone with common sense would expect. Before tipoff, the team held a moment of silence for Renee Good, the woman who tried to run down an ICE agent during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. What followed was not healing or unity, but open hostility, profanity, and applause for anti-law enforcement slogans inside a packed arena.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Good was ordered by federal agents to exit her vehicle. She refused. She then attempted to run over ICE officers and ram them with her car. That detail matters, even if the Timberwolves organization seemed determined to gloss over it. This was not a random bystander caught in crossfire. This was an individual actively interfering with a federal operation and using a vehicle as a weapon.
Still, the arena’s public address announcer solemnly told the crowd, “Our thoughts are with her family and everyone affected,” while the scoreboard displayed a vigil image and the words “In memory of Renee Nicole Good.” As the arena went silent, fans wasted no time turning the moment into a political rally. Shouts of “Go home, ICE” and “F— ICE” echoed through the building, drawing cheers from sections of the crowd. So much for unity.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch piled on before the team’s win over Cleveland, calling the incident “yet another unspeakable tragedy.” Notice what was missing. No mention of the ICE agent who nearly lost his life. No acknowledgment that federal officers have the right to defend themselves. Just vague condolences and activist-approved language.
Secretary Noem, meanwhile, did not dance around the facts. She described Good’s actions as an act of domestic terrorism, and she was right to do so. An officer acted defensively to protect himself and those around him. That is not controversial outside of activist circles and cable news panels.
What the Timberwolves failed to mention is that Good was not some neutral figure. She was an immigration activist affiliated with ICE Watch, a group that openly seeks to monitor, interfere with, and disrupt federal immigration enforcement. According to DHS, she followed ICE agents to multiple locations and blocked a roadway in an effort to stop their work before the shooting occurred.
This incident is part of a broader pattern. Under President Trump’s renewed crackdown on illegal immigration, ICE activity has increased, and so has organized resistance from activist groups. Instead of standing with law enforcement, too many institutions are choosing to legitimize that resistance.
A basketball arena should not be used to sanitize dangerous behavior or excuse violence against federal officers. Moments of silence are meant for victims, not for advancing political narratives that ignore reality. The Timberwolves managed to turn a game into a spectacle, and not in a way that reflects well on the organization or the city it represents.
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