Phelim McAleer: Renée Good's death in the US is a tragedy, compounded by a denial of the truth of the video evidence
To understand why America and the world has got it so wrong and gone so crazy about the shooting of Renée Good by an American immigration officer, we need to talk about ulcers. More specifically, stomach ulcers.
The story of the hunt for a cure for stomach ulcers is the perfect example of how people will believe what they want to believe, even when the evidence directly in front of them proves the opposite. Just as is happening in the case of Ms Good.
But first ulcers: For decades, the medical consensus was ironclad. Stomach ulcers were caused by stress, spicy foods or alcohol or a combination of these factors. All the doctors and researchers agreed.
There was no dissent. Treatments focused on antacids, lifestyle changes, and sometimes surgeons even removed damaged stomachs. Millions suffered worldwide. Then, in the 1980s, two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, challenged this orthodoxy. They believed a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, was the cause of stomach ulcers. Their evidence? The bacteria was visible under a microscope when they examined biopsies taken from ulcer patients.
You'd think that would settle it. But no. The medical establishment resisted. It was an accepted fact that nothing could live in the stomach because of the acid. Conferences dismissed their findings; journals rejected their papers. Even when presented with clear microscopic images – black-and-white proof that anyone could see – other researchers just could not see it.
It took years for other researchers to see the bacteria that was in front of them. In 2005, Warren and Marshall won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and today antibiotics cure most ulcers. But the phenomenon they exposed still exists: intelligent, trained professionals couldn't see what was plainly there because it contradicted their preconceptions. This cognitive blindness – clinging to narratives despite evidence - seems to be part of the human condition.
Now, apply this thinking, or lack of thinking, to the tragic shooting of Renée Good in Minneapolis. She followed, then blocked immigration (ICE) officers in her SUV. When they ordered her out of the car she took off at speed and appeared to hit ICE officer Jonathan Ross who pulled out his gun and shot her dead.
The incident sparked immediate outrage, protests, and accusations of murder. There was a video of the incident that appeared to show the officer being struck - therefore justifying the shooting - but you could argue that it wasn’t totally clear. There was still room for doubt.
A few days later a second video emerged that appeared to show the SUV definitely struck the officer. But still the allegations of murder came loud and often. Now, you could argue that the video was from a distance and very fuzzy. There was still a tiny possibility for doubt - I suppose.
The third and latest video, however – recorded on Ross's own cell phone – proved it beyond doubt. Released days later, it offers a close-up view: Good ignores commands, shifts into drive, and rams the vehicle into Ross, striking his legs and body.
It's black-and-white evidence, visible to anyone. Under US law and pretty much the policy of any police force on the planet, deadly force is justified against someone who drives a vehicle at a law enforcement officer.
Yet, like those doctors staring at pictures of bacteria and seeing nothing, many pundits and commentators refuse to accept what the latest video proves. Prominent voices persist in calling the shooting unjustified or outright murder. Progressive Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove flatly stated Good "was murdered" in a House statement.
At the weekend celebrity actors such as Incredible Hulk star Mark Ruffalo attended the Golden Globes awards here in Los Angeles wearing badges in support of Ms Good. Actress and model Eva Longoria was clear. "This is murder!" she posted on Instagram. She has not updated her position despite the new video evidence.
Commentator Tim Miller, one of the leading “anti-Trump Republicans” stated that even after he saw the latest footage he knew Renee Good was murdered and he was not going to be “gaslit” by the new evidence.
It seems that human nature and an anti-Trump derangement syndrome leads humans to a very scary place where ideology trumps evidence.
Admitting that the shooting was justified feels like betraying the cause, just as accepting bacteria existed in the stomach meant abandoning a belief system doctors and researchers “knew to be true” and had built careers on.
This isn't to minimize what happened. The death of Good, who spent time in Northern Ireland as a Christian missionary, is heartbreaking. But denying the truth of the video evidence and falsely claiming she was murdered adds to the tragedy.
l Phelim McAleer is a Co Tyrone-born journalist/producer based in Los Angeles