The White House responded Monday to the New Hampshire Episcopal bishop who urged his clergy to finalize their wills and get their affairs in order and prepare for a “new era of martyrdom” at a vigil for ICE shooting victim Renee Good.
Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire also criticized the “horror unleashed in Minneapolis” and said people of Christian faith should not fear death in a Jan. 9 speech, a video of which has since gone viral.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an emailed response to a question from NBC News about Hirschfeld’s address: “No one should follow advice encouraging them to commit crimes. Anyone who interferes with federal law enforcement operations is committing a crime and will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Trump administration has staunchly defended the fatal Jan. 7 shooting of Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. They insist Ross fired in self-defense against a motorist who ran him over — even though cellphone video of the shooting showed Good turning the steering wheel away from Ross as she began to drive and Ross still standing after he shot into her SUV numerous times.
Advertisement
Candles burn around a poem written by Renee Good during a vigil honoring her on Jan. 9 in St. Paul outside the Minnesota State Capitol.Kerem Yücel / AP
Good’s killing has sparked numerous anti-ICE protests across Minneapolis and harsh criticism from local leaders like Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who are now being investigated by the Justice Department for allegedly conspiring to impede federal immigration agents.
Hirschfeld addressed Good’s shooting at a Jan. 9 vigil in Concord, New Hampshire.
Responding to the White House, he said, “In no way have I, or will I, advocate, support, or encourage, criminal behavior, especially acts of violence.”
“We are speaking about peaceful, non-violent resistance against those who without warrant or justification threaten physical injury, or even death,” he said in an email to NBC News. “Non-violence and love, as Jesus himself practiced and lived, should be the way for us to settle all differences in a free society.”
During his speech, Hirschfeld criticized “those who call themselves Christians” and who are close to the Trump administration and “who tell us the way the world works is by force.”
Advertisement
He also mentioned several historical clergy members who risked their lives to protect others, including New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was shot and killed by an Alabama sheriff’s deputy while he was shielding a young Black civil rights activist in 1965.
“I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness,” Hirschfeld said. “And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”
Hirschfeld said people of Christian faith should not fear death, but he did not call for responding to the ICE raids with violence.
“Those of us who are ready to build a new world, we also have to be prepared,” he said. “If we truly want to live without fear, we cannot fear even death itself, my friends.”
As for Good, Hirschfeld said, “I believe God is raising Renee Good to glory right now.”
Advertisement
A person holds a sign reading “Good Rest in Power” during a vigil at a memorial near the site where Renee Good was killed in Minneapolis.Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
Good, 37, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen, was behind the wheel of an SUV on a snowy residential street when she was shot and killed by Ross.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Ross was treated in a hospital for injuries he sustained in the incident and was released soon after.
But emergency services logs obtained by NBC News say Ross was first taken to a federal building. A DHS official claimed that Ross sustained internal bleeding to the torso after the incident but did not elaborate on the extent of his injuries.
A staple of many New Hampshire town fairs, the pig scramble may soon look a little different.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to create best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines will be published before the 2027 fair season, so they won’t be in place for any fairs with pig scrambles this year, such as the upcoming Deerfield Fair in the fall.
Generally, a pig scramble involves people of the same age competing to capture pigs that have been let loose in a large pen. Contestants have to catch the pig in a drawstring bag, and the first one to do so can take the pig home.
Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said each fair has different rules for their pig scrambles, meaning some can be more humane than others. One aspect of the events she hopes will change is the bags pigs are captured in.
Advertisement
“They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.”
Although some fairs already use more breathable bags out of burlap, Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, said she’s also seen pigs being kept in plastic bags for long periods of time after the event. Not only would a burlap bag improve the pig’s ability to breathe in the heat, she said, but she also wants fairs to require participants to bring an animal carrier for the trip home. Her organization was ultimately in favor of the legislation.
“If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” O’Brien said, adding that some fairs already ask contestants to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
The Deerfield Fair has implemented another rule that O’Brien and Harvey hope becomes part of statewide best practices — having parents supervise their child in the pen. O’Brien once witnessed a child hang a pig upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into the bag.
“In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” O’Brien said. She said parents should work with the event referee to make sure their kid is handling the pig humanely.
Advertisement
Harvey’s bill originally called for pig scrambles to be banned around the state, but both she and O’Brien feel that universal guidelines for fairs would still make the experience better for the animals. Even seemingly small things, Harvey said, like giving the pigs water after the scramble, would be an improvement to the current situation for them.
“I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’ So I think that would be a good outcome.”
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services collected samples of the unknown substance found in Sunapee Harbor and will be testing them tomorrow. Authorities say the spill was contained and prevented from spreading further.
HAMPSTEAD, N.H. (WHDH) – Authorities have launched an investigation after responding to a reported untimely death in Hampstead, New Hampshire, officials said.
The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the untimely death of a woman at a home in Hampstead, Attorney General John M. Formella announced.
While the investigation is just beginning, there is no known threat to the general public at this time.
The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under active investigation.
Advertisement
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox
