
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem clashed with CNN anchor Jake Tapper over her remarks following a deadly shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minnesota. After a Minneapolis ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, Noem said at a news conference that Good was engaging in âdomestic terrorismâ and attempting to âweaponize her vehicleâ against federal officers.
Tapper questioned Noem about the comments, noting they were made before an investigation into the incident had been launched.
âWell, everything that Iâve said has been proven to be factual and the truth,â Noem said. âThis administration wants to operate in transparency. I have the responsibility as the secretary of Homeland Security to know this information as soon as possible.
âI had just been in Minneapolis the day before, had already had conversations with officers on the ground and supervisors, and knew the facts and decided that the department and the people of this country deserve to know the truth about the situation of what had unfolded in Minneapolis,â Noem continued.
âWith all due respect, Secretary, the first thing you said was, âwhat happened was our ICE officers were out in an enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle,ââ Tapper said, summarizing her remarks. âThatâs not what happened. We all saw what happened.â
âIt absolutely is what happened,â Noem said.
She said evidence showed Good had attempted to block the roadway and interfere with federal law enforcement operations before using her vehicle to attack ICE agents. Tapper continued to challenge Noemâs use of the term âdomestic terrorist,â questioning how she could be so certain of her claims, Fox News noted.
âAnd the question is, I donât doubtâŠmy position is I wasnât there,â Tapper said. âI didnât see it. Some people say that it clearly showed that she was trying to hit him and did. Some people say no, she was clearly trying to move her car and flee and get away. I donât know. What Iâm saying is, how do you know? How can you assert for a fact within hours before any investigation this is what happened?â
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âThe facts of the situation are that the vehicle was weaponized, and it attacked the law enforcement officer. He defended himself, and he defended those individuals around him. That is the definition. When there is something that is weaponized to use against the public and law enforcement, that is an act of domestic terrorism happened in our shores. It happened here in our country. You donât get to change the facts just because you donât like them,â Noem said.
She added that an investigation is ongoing.
Noem later accused Tapper of presenting an âuntruthfulâ depiction of the event, which led Tapper to push back against her during the interview.
âWeâve all seen the video. I donât need to relitigate it. Weâve all seen the video. She is blocking the street. They approach her,â Tapper said.
âYou havenât seen the video of the entire morning in the previous encounters with this individual,â Noem said.
âWe have aired it. Yes, we have. On Thursday, we were airing and noting the fact that she was there for several minutes, for minutes and minutes and minutes. She was protesting without question,â Tapper responded.
âAt those previous locations that morning, that, absolutely, that these vehicles had been previously down the block on video that you havenât seen. Thereâs more information,â Noem said.
