By Dean Maddox, Public Safety & Crime Reporter

Downtown Sacramento lit up this week with one of the most backwards protests this city has seen in a long time. A crowd of local activists gathered to burn flags, chant anti-ICE slogans, and demand “justice” for a Minnesota woman who wasn’t an innocent victim, but a committed anti-enforcement agitator who used her car as a weapon against federal agents.

The woman, Renee Nicole Good, wasn’t a bystander. She was part of a group called ICE Watch, which exists to track, monitor, and interfere with federal immigration enforcement. She followed ICE agents through the city, blocked roadways, and when agents approached her stopped vehicle, she accelerated straight toward one of them. The officer fired at close range because he didn’t feel like getting run over that day. This wasn’t complicated. It was FAFO in action, plain and simple.

But in Sacramento, facts take a back seat to whatever outrage feels good in the moment. The second ICE was involved, the protest crowd didn’t bother waiting for context. They rushed downtown to turn a dangerous offender into a symbol. They burned a flag. They chanted about “ICE brutality.” They ignored the video and ignored everything federal officials said. They acted like the truth was optional.

These protesters weren’t out there for justice. They were there for the opposite of that. They were there to support the criminal obstruction of justice.

This is liberals’ reflexive defense of criminals. They rush to the defense of anyone who clashes with law enforcement. It doesn’t matter if the person interfered with a lawful operation. It doesn’t matter if they blocked officers in the road. It doesn’t matter if they used a vehicle as a weapon. All that matters is their hatred of ICE.

You can argue about immigration policy. That’s politics. But defending someone for trying to run over a federal agent isn’t politics. It’s evil. And it says a lot about where this city’s head is at these days.

No one downtown seemed interested in responsibility or basic cause and effect. They were too busy trying to turn a reckless agitator into a martyr and law enforcement into the villain. It’s the same script every time. If the suspect has the right ideology, the facts get erased and the candles come out.

The reality is simple. She interfered. She escalated. She weaponized her vehicle. And she got the response anyone would get in that situation. That isn’t injustice. That’s reality. That’s FAFO.

Sacramento shouldn’t be lighting candles and burning flags for that.