Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem pledged on Sunday to deploy “hundreds more” federal agents to Minneapolis as thousands continue protesting the death of a woman at the hands of an immigration officer last week.
“We’re sending additional officers today and tomorrow,” Noem stated on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “They’ll arrive — hundreds more — to let our ICE and Border Patrol personnel working in Minneapolis do their jobs safely.”
She cited recent events in Minnesota as the reason for sending the agents, who she says will “uncover the real corruption and theft that’s happened.”
Noem’s announcement came a day after tens of thousands took to Minneapolis’ streets to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an immigration officer and ICE’s ongoing presence in the city. Good, a mother of three and a poet, was killed inside her car in front of her partner on Wednesday. Those protests have since spread across .
Right after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for ICE to “Get the f— out” of the city.
Frey has repeatedly said ICE agents’ presence in the city has created more chaos, fear and danger for residents: “Your stated reason for being here is to create safety, but you’re doing the exact opposite,” he said on Wednesday.
The White House and Noem have continued defending ICE agent Jonathan Ross’s actions as self-defense, while Frey and other Democrats have strongly disagreed.
“This was clearly a law enforcement action where the officer acted on his training to defend himself, his life and his colleagues,” Noem told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Noem blamed local leaders for fanning tensions, saying Good’s death is “why we need our leaders to tone down their rhetoric.”
“They’ve heavily politicized and inappropriately talked about this on-the-ground situation in their city. They’ve inflamed the public,” Noem said of Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “They’ve encouraged the destruction and violence we’ve seen in Minneapolis these past few days.”
Frey said Saturday that the “vast majority of community members have demonstrated peacefully,” though 30 protesters were arrested Friday evening for minor property damage and blocking streets, per police.
Speaking to Kristin Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Frey said he had “deep mistrust” of federal agencies investigating Good’s death and asked the FBI to let state agencies help with the probe.
Frey pointed to viral cell phone videos of Good’s interaction with immigration officers before she was shot—footage he says proves she was trying to leave the scene instead of “running over” an officer, as President Trump and Noem have claimed.
“You don’t need to take my word for it. You don’t need to take their word for it. Watch the video,” Frey said. In the video, Good’s car is seen reversing, her tires facing away from the officer who fired into the side of her vehicle.
