Noem to deploy hundreds more federal agents to city

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday said the federal government will surge more law enforcement to Minneapolis after a U.S. citizen was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Wednesday.

“We’re sending more officers today and tomorrow; they’ll arrive, there’ll be hundreds more, in order to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely,” Noem said in an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

The latest surge comes after Renee Nicole Good, the U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday. Noem has said, without providing evidence, that Good was engaged in an act of domestic terrorism when she was shot.

“If you look at what the definition of domestic terrorism is, it completely fits the situation on the ground,” Noem claimed in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This officer was hit by her vehicle, she weaponized it, and he defended his life and those colleagues around him and the public.”

Good, 37, was shot by an ICE agent positioned in front of her car on Wednesday while driving her SUV forward after agents attempted to remove her from her vehicle. The ICE agent has been identified as Jonathan Ross, two sources familiar with the investigation told MS Now.

Videos of the incident surfaced on Wednesday, prompting protests and nationwide scrutiny of the Trump administration’s tactics as it carries out its mass deportation agenda.

The administration and Noem have defended Ross, arguing that Good attempted to run him over with her vehicle, and have pledged to surge additional officers into Minneapolis. The administration had already moved more federal officers to the region amid reports of widespread social services fraud.

Pressed by CNN host Jake Tapper over why she was comfortable labeling Good a domestic terrorist before an investigation into the shooting can play out, Noem said, without proof, “Everything that I’ve said has been proven to be factual and the truth.”

Democrats have threatened to impeach Noem over the killing, while noting that an investigation into the incident is underway. On Thursday, state officials with Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension claimed that the FBI is impeding the state-level investigation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” demanded an impartial investigation of the incident.

“Let’s have the investigation in the hands of someone that isn’t biased,” he said. “Let’s not have it exclusively run through the FBI at the federal government or the Department of Justice.”

“When you’ve got a federal administration that is so quick to jump on a narrative as opposed to the truth, I think we all need to be speaking out,” Frey added.

Frey also bristled at Noem’s characterization of Good’s actions.

“They were trying to leave the scene; that is not a person that’s trying to run an ICE agent over,” Frey said.

Noem on CNN blamed Frey and other Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for the killing, arguing their rhetoric has prompted people to attempt to obstruct ICE. Frey called for ICE to “Get the f— out of Minneapolis,” in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

“They’ve extremely politicized and inappropriately talked about the situation on the ground in their city, they’ve inflamed the public,” Noem said on CNN Sunday. “They’ve encouraged the kind of destruction and violence that we’ve seen in Minneapolis the last several days.”

Frey, asked on NBC to respond to Noem, said, “I’m sorry I offended their delicate ears.”

“I dropped an F-bomb, and they killed somebody. I think the ‘killing somebody’ is the inflammatory element here, not the F-bomb,” Frey said. 

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, White House Border Czar Tom Homan argued that everyone should “let the investigation play out.”

“I don’t know what [the] secretary has that I don’t,” Homan said, though he said he believes what Good did was illegal.

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