Podcast Summary:

The Next Level – Episode 1046: Secret Podcast: The Government Keeps Shooting Civilians
Date: January 10, 2026
Hosts: Jonathan V. Last (JVL), Sarah Longwell
Theme: Unfiltered reactions to the recent ICE shooting of an unarmed woman, Renee Good, in Minneapolis, the deeper implications of government use of force, and the official response from political leaders and right-wing media.

Episode Overview

This emotionally charged episode opens moments after hosts Sarah Longwell and JVL finish watching the newly released cell phone footage of the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The conversation is raw, offering immediate, unfiltered reactions. The hosts delve into the incident itself, the political climate that made it possible, the role of misinformation and gaslighting by the Trump administration and conservative media, and the broader implications for American democracy and government accountability.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unpacking the ICE Shooting of Renee Good (01:00–09:47)

• Immediate Emotional Response:

  • Sarah begins by expressing both anger at the shooting itself and the systemic lies about it:

    “There are two different layers of the anger. There is the incident itself, which should never have happened... And then the second layer is that they are lying about all of it.” (01:57)

  • JVL concurs with the sense of “utter avoidable tragedy.”

• Critique of ICE Presence & Tactics:

  • The hosts question the justification and tactics for ICE operating in such neighborhoods:

    “There is no reason for them to have been there. They are going into communities and they are making them less safe.” (02:55 — Sarah)

  • Footage interpretation disputes official claims that the officer was threatened or hit by the car.

• Official Narratives & Right-Wing Spin:

  • Hosts call out Senator J.D. Vance and other conservatives for misrepresenting the event:

    “J.D. Vance takes that video... and says, watch this... the reality is that [the officer’s] life was endangered and he fired in self defense. And... I’m really trying to check myself... but it’s not what it makes clear at all.” (04:09 — Sarah)

  • They note the speed with which the administration labeled Good a “domestic terrorist” as part of a political campaign.

• Victim Characterization & Media Framing:

  • Discussion on how right-wing media uses divisive language to “other” the victim:

    “Matt Walsh and a lot of these right wingers... keep calling her like a lesbian liberal... because they’re trying to other her… to make her sound radical. No, she’s just an American who saw this thing taking place… she was dropping her kid off at school.” (07:32 — Sarah)

2. Larger Political and Social Implications (09:47–16:42)

• Policy Choices & Recruitment:

  • The hosts argue that this use of force is a deliberate outcome of current recruitment and deployment policies:

    “This is a policy choice.... They are just trying to hire as many hostile people as they can and then giving them much less training than a normal officer and then putting them out on the streets...” (10:33 — Sarah)

  • They highlight the targeting of Democratic-controlled areas:

    “Not doing it in red states... there’s a reason these teams of massed government agents are being dispatched to democratically populated areas.” (11:08 — JVL)

• Institutional Response & Cover-Up:

  • The most damning aspect for the hosts is the governmental response, which they compare to authoritarian regimes:

    “The institutional response to this at every single level... is that nobody there is like holy shit, what have we done?” (13:08 — JVL) “Why would we believe their account of this? ... President United States is lying and, and then the FBI is attempting to impede an investigation...” (14:03 — JVL)

  • References to DHS, Kristi Noem, and the FBI’s actions to block state-level investigation.

3. Moral Outrage and Societal Decline (16:42–24:58)

• Contrast with Past Responses & Loss of Humanity:

  • Sarah draws a distinction with Democratic responses to violence, compared to Republicans:

    “When Charlie Kirk was murdered we were real clear that we would breach no like celebration... Not only are... big Republican voices... celebrating this death…” (16:42)

  • JVL calls it a “death cult”—the celebration and justification of political violence.

• Ashley Babbitt Analogy:

  • JVL analyzes the hypocrisy in right-wing reactions, comparing an equally inflammatory situation—the killing of Ashley Babbitt on January 6:

    “If this is the standard for the use of deadly force, what we see here, then my question is how many people should have been shot by the police on January 6?” (18:34)

• Epistemic Breakdown & Gaslighting:

  • Both hosts express deep frustration at the disconnect between video evidence and the official narrative:

    “It makes you feel like you’re taking crazy pills to watch the video and have them tell you something completely as different is happening than what is happening.” (22:47 — Sarah) “Tell us that our eyes are lying to us.” (24:07 — Sarah)

4. Accountability, Justice, and Democratic Resilience (24:58–27:40)

• Prospects and Need for Accountability:
  • JVL and Sarah debate possible accountability, even invoking the idea of mass legal action:

    “I want people combing through every single piece of video that was shot... and prosecut[ing] them to the full extent of the law. I don’t care what it costs. I don’t care how backward looking it is…” (25:06 — JVL)

  • Both recognize the political unlikelihood, but insist on its necessity for restoring faith in government:

    “Accountability is a necessary component to bringing the country back.” (27:24 — Sarah)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On systemic lying and government narrative:

  “It’s gaslighting… the government lying to us about what is happening." (07:05 — Sarah)

• On the targeting of political opposition:

  “Their job is to harass and hurt and punish the bad people. Meaning people who didn’t vote for Donald Trump. That’s what this all is. This is like bloody Kansas.” (11:51 — JVL)

• On the collapse of societal restraint and values:

  “Violence against their enemies is appropriate and acceptable, full stop.” (19:46 — JVL)

• On skepticism of government power:

  “One of the... tenants of limited government conservatism that we were raised on was not to be anti cop, but it certainly was to be suspicious of government power.” (20:56 — Sarah)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:00–03:05]: Immediate reactions; analysis of ICE video; anger at incident and narrative.
• [04:09–07:32]: Criticism of J.D. Vance’s spin; media and administration framing; “othering” of victim.
• [09:47–11:08]: Hostility is a policy choice; disparate enforcement in Democratic vs. Republican areas.
• [13:08–15:26]: Institutional cover-up and authoritarian parallels.
• [16:42–18:34]: Comparison to previous political violence; critique of death cult mentality.
• [18:34–20:56]: Ashley Babbitt analogy; differing responses to political violence.
• [24:58–27:40]: Accountability debate; requirements for restoring democratic legitimacy.

Tone & Style

• Emotionally charged, unscripted, very direct.
• The hosts' language is blunt and urgent, reflecting not just frustration, but personal distress and moral outrage over the event and the political response.
• Numerous asides and acknowledgements of “casting about” and “unfiltered” reactions highlight the immediacy and honesty of their conversation.

Conclusion

This is a raw, impassioned episode that lays bare the hosts' collective outrage at government misuse of force, misinformation, and lack of institutional accountability, using the Renee Good ICE shooting as a flashpoint. The discussion blends immediate emotional reactions with deep political analysis, using memorable analogies and quotes to frame the current climate as a profound test for American values and democracy. For listeners seeking clarity on the event, its context, and why it matters, this episode delivers both the facts and the full weight of their implications.