In October, Apple caved to stress from the Trump administration and eliminated ICEBlock — and related apps which crowdsourced the situation of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement exercise — from its App Retailer. Apple’s acknowledged rationale? The apps might “be used to hurt regulation enforcement officers.” However armed-to-the-teeth ICE officers don’t want safety from civilians. Apple had that precisely backward.
That turned inconceivable to disregard on Wednesday, when ICE agent Jonathon Ross killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in chilly blood. By now, you do not want me to recount her brutal final moments. However the footage (graphic and disturbing as it’s) is on the market, and we will see the Trump administration’s propaganda concerning the occasion for what it’s.
ICE was a harmful pressure lengthy earlier than this week. This was the company’s ninth capturing since September. 32 individuals died in ICE custody in 2025. Round a 3rd of these arrested by ICE brokers — usually masked and refusing to determine themselves — don’t even have legal information.
What modified this week was, arguably, that the sufferer wasn’t a brown-skinned individual. ICE claimed the lifetime of a white American citizen, one who, in accordance with her spouse, was a form, loving mother and a Christian. Sadly, the US has a darkish historical past of shrugging off violence so long as it’s directed in the direction of a marginalized group. That wasn’t potential for mainstream newsreaders right here.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 8, 2026 Dozens, holding images of Renee Nicole Good, protest her dying a day after an ICE agent killed Good in Minneapolis, in entrance of the Federal Constructing in downtown Los Angeles on January 8, 2026. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Occasions by way of Getty Pictures) (Genaro Molina by way of Getty Pictures)
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance smeared Good baselessly, insisting the mom was a part of a “left-wing community.” He additionally claimed ICE holds “absolute immunity” relating to doing issues like killing People in broad daylight. In the meantime, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt framed the lethal incident because the “consequence of a bigger, sinister left-wing motion that has unfold throughout our nation.” And the FBI has blocked Minnesota’s legal investigation bureau from accessing proof to finish a radical examination of the murder.
In brief: an company with the complete backing of the federal authorities killed an harmless citizen, and whereas there are instruments to tell the general public concerning the probably places that company could also be performing in, Apple has chosen to maintain them from us.
Apple has a historical past of presenting itself as a safer, socially progressive various inside Huge Tech. Its keynotes are replete with heartfelt testimony of iPhone and Apple Watch options saving lives. It releases Satisfaction-themed equipment to have fun the LGBTQ+ neighborhood and the corporate has (to date) resisted authorities stress to get rid of its DEI packages. Hell, its fashionable period was kicked off by the “Right here’s to the loopy ones” TV advert, which intercut pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon and Gandhi — explicitly cloaking its company picture in civil disobedience and social justice.
A photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Apple’s homepage (2015) (Apple / The Web Archive)
However the firm additionally wields that progressive picture for egocentric causes, wrapping enterprise priorities within the guise of conscientiousness. For instance, when authorities rules push for openness or interoperability, Apple warns of the safety and privateness dangers for its customers. When Apple tightly controls the place you should purchase apps, it’s about conserving porn away from the children. And Apple has determined the theoretical security of ICE officers is extra useful than the very actual risk they pose to the communities they harass.
ICEBlock’s availability on the App Retailer could not have modified the end result of Wednesday’s occasions. However it might resume its job as a neighborhood informer. It might make it simpler to inform the general public of the place these masked thugs are congregating, even perhaps serving to others keep away from Good’s destiny.
Engadget has reached out to Apple for touch upon reinstating ICEBlock; we’ll replace if we obtain a response.
