Twin Cities Residents Win JFK Profile in Courage Award for Defying Operation Metro Surge
Boston, June 2026 — The people of the Twin Cities received the 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on May 31 at the JFK Presidential Library, honored for risking their lives to shield immigrant neighbors during Operation Metro Surge — the federal government’s mass immigration enforcement operation that deployed up to 4,000 ICE officers across Minneapolis and St. Paul earlier this year. Two civilians were killed by federal agents during the surge. Their faces were in the room.
Radio host and community organizer Sheletta Brundidge walked into the ceremony wearing a custom jacket bearing the portraits of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — both 37, both killed by federal agents in January.
“They gave the ultimate sacrifice for their courage, and they should be in the room when that award is handed out,” said Brundidge, host of The Sheletta Show on WCCO Radio.
Who Was Killed — and How
Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was shot through the windshield of her purple SUV on January 7 near 34th Street and Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis. An ICE agent stepped in front of her vehicle as she attempted to drive away, then opened fire. The Department of Homeland Security claimed self-defense, saying Good used her car as a weapon. Witnesses and video footage contradicted that account.
State officials reported that federal agents physically blocked a doctor at the scene from performing CPR. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called it “an unspeakable act of violence.”
Alex Pretti was shot by federal agents days later. When the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension launched a joint investigation, state and local investigators were physically denied access to the crime scene — even after obtaining a court-issued search warrant.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed suit to preserve evidence. “Federal agents are not above the law and Alex Pretti is certainly not beneath it,” Ellison said.
A Leaderless, Grassroots Response
Against that backdrop — and during Minnesota’s coldest weeks — Twin Cities residents organized without a central command structure. They blew whistles at enforcement operations, ran community buses, hid groceries behind dumpsters for immigrant neighbors to collect, and coordinated logistics via Slack.
“People were making sure immigrant girls had tampons, hiding groceries behind dumpsters that we knew people would come and pick up later, doing bus runs, and even moms were using Slack like corporate CEOs to galvanize and get people to places where they needed to be,” Brundidge said.
Rachel Flor, executive director of the JFK Library Foundation, told the roughly 700 people in attendance that the community’s response was remarkable precisely because it lacked a single leader. “It was a robust response that was essentially leaderless,” she said. “Everyone felt a responsibility and took the lead in their own ways.”
Flor also explained why the foundation broke from its tradition of honoring elected officials. “When our politics are under so much pressure, we don’t see as much progress in elected office, and we’ve needed the everyday people who are simply neighbors to stand up and defend these fundamental values of our democracy,” she said.
A Prestigious Award, Rarely Given to Ordinary Citizens
The Profile in Courage Award is among the most prestigious honors in American civic life. First awarded in 1989, it has historically gone to elected officials. Past recipients include Barack Obama (2017), George H.W. Bush (2014), and Gabrielle Giffords (2013).
Accepting the award on behalf of the Twin Cities were Imam Yusuf Abdulle, co-founder of the Somali American Leadership Table and executive director of the Islamic Association of North America; Natalie Ehret, founder of Haven Watch; Carolina Ortiz, associate executive director of COPAL; and Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was also honored at the ceremony with a 2026 Profile in Courage Award, recognized for defending the independence of the Federal Reserve under sustained political pressure.
Personal Stakes
For Brundidge, the activism came at real personal cost. After the killings of Good and Pretti, she said she prepared her children for the possibility she might not return from a protest.
“I had to tell my kids, if I’m not here when you come home from school, mommy may be in jail or worse,” she recalled.
She framed the award not as a celebration but as a testament to what collective responsibility looks like in practice. “Looking back now, you realize what a miracle it was that we showed the world what showing up for your brothers and sisters, your neighbors and the least of these looks like,” she said.
The ceremony can be viewed at jfklibrary.org.