The killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a city in Minnesota in the United States, is known to everyone. Numerous videos have circulated and continue to emerge documenting the entire scene, from the arrest and the order to get out of the car to the three gunshots to the head. The dynamics are very clear: the ICE agent decided to kill her, for no reason. It is not possible to deduce anything different from the videos, which show how the woman was stopped in her car, very calm and serene, not aggressive at all.

The car was stopped, therefore, and she put it into gear to leave; a car that starts from rest and moves half a meter cannot be considered a danger to anyone, and certainly if you wanted to stop the woman it would have been enough to shoot at the tires or anywhere else. Shooting three shots in the head means having a clear intention to kill. A recent video even shows how the officer, after killing her, curses “fu**ing b**ch”, that is, insults her.

The mystification of reality

Predictably, the version that Donald Trump and his toy soldiers are trying to pass off is that Good was a dangerous rabble rouser, who ran over the poor officer, in terrible shape, using the vehicle as a weapon. The murderous agent is guaranteed total impunity, while the murdered woman is defined as a terrorist. He was simply in his car near his house. Of course, the claim that the officer suffered serious injuries is false.

All this is almost impossible to believe, especially the bold mystification of events; truly today the world appears more Orwellian than ever, because not only are violent round-ups and deportations taking place, but a person can be killed and then completely reverse the facts, remaining unpunished.

It’s all about obeying orders

But even more incredible are the reactions of many Italians, who almost seem to enjoy the murder. We know that when it happens, here, that a policeman kills a person (and it happens, let’s remember), there is always a large portion of the people who defend him, because he was only doing his duty. Apparently this solidarity with the armed forces also extends overseas: well, he gave her a halt, she didn’t stop, what was he supposed to do? The logical and inevitable consequence is murder, right?

This also partly derives from the total ignorance of Italians about the functioning of US law. Many seem convinced that in America the police can kill anyone at the first offence, and therefore a citizen, knowing this, is asking for it if he doesn’t obey. This is obviously false, not to mention that ICE is not the police: they have the power to stop and arrest someone if they have a well-founded suspicion that he or she is an illegal immigrant (which is still abhorrent), whereas if the person is an American citizen this can only happen if the person interferes with an arrest or assaults an officer. In no case, however, are they free to kill at will: there must be a serious risk, which in this case was totally invented.

An attack on democracy

But regardless of American laws, it is horrifying that when you see that video, instead of being shocked and perplexed, you first think “good thing for her”. It’s a sort of gratuitous malice vented on the first unfortunate person who comes along. And even beyond the human aspect – frankly worrying – the fact that people are not too moved by the idea that in a theoretically democratic state people are rounded up and killed in the streets is alarming. With the excuse of respecting the rules, one takes such news carelessly, perhaps convinced that they are different from the victim: ah, I certainly would have followed the orders and would not have had any problems. It wouldn’t have happened to me. Which besides being stupid and naive is not the point of the discussion at all.

If we are unable to recognize alarming and seriously serious situations simply because they do not affect us directly, and if we reassure ourselves by thinking that if we are good citizens nothing happens to us, how can we remain vigilant about the state of our democracy? And in fact, we don’t. And we continue to take lightly the follies that are imposed on us.