As previously reported, a left-wing blockade attempt in a Minnesota neighborhood escalated into deadly violence after an anti-ICE agitator allegedly struck a federal agent with her SUV during an immigration enforcement operation. The confrontation ended with agents opening fire, leaving the woman dead. She has since been identified as 37-year-old Renee Good.
In the wake of the incident, Democrats in the state moved quickly to inflame tensions, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz assigning blame to ICE before the facts were known—or, seemingly, before they cared to know them at all. Walz went so far as to say he would call in the National Guard if the activists he, Frey, and others helped incite with reckless rhetoric begin rioting, invoking memories of the 2020 unrest following the death of George Floyd.
During an early evening press conference, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem moved to set the record straight, sharply rebuking Walz and while laying out what she said were the facts of the incident—and highlighting broader failures under their leadership.
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In the remarks, Noem noted that she and Walz previously served in Congress at the same time and were governors of neighboring states concurrently, drawing a pointed contrast in leadership. She also said that both Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota had refused to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security during the enforcement operations, a stance she suggested was difficult to justify given that the actions were aimed at improving public safety for American citizens:
“We’ve NEVER had a cooperative arrangement with law enforcement here…We haven’t had the cooperation of the state of Minnesota…”
“If you talk to ANY of these federal law enforcement officers, they’ll say that when you call for back-up…it’s hit and miss.”
(As an aside, imagine being a police officer and being told you can’t respond to a fellow law enforcement officer’s call for help. Asinine.)
Noem also blasted Walz and Frey by pointing to the rise in crime during their time in office and how the lack of cooperation with DHS contributed to those stats. “That’s why we are here,” she stated.
The DHS secretary also noted that Good had been “stalking and impeding” the agents throughout the day:
She added:
“It’s very clear that this individual was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations. Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he’s been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers.”
One crucial point that Noem highlighted was that this incident was not isolated; vehicle rammings frequently occurred during immigration enforcement operations:
Sec. Kristi Noem says that just TODAY, there have been four ramming attacks on federal officers, three of which happened in Minneapolis.
“We’ve seen over 100 of these vehicle rammings happen in just recent weeks.”
Later she reveals that the ICE agent involved in this shooting had been rammed and dragged by an anti-ICE rioter last June.
Noem emphasized that it is crucial for protesters to refrain from using vehicles as weapons, as this hinders agents from performing their duties:
The bottom line is this: It appears that Good got up yesterday morning with the full intention of impeding ICE agents from doing their jobs. She paid for that mistake with her life. And while that is tragic, it was also 100 percent avoidable.
