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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 “domestic terrorism” and attempting to “weaponize her vehicle” against federal officers.
Tapper questioned Noem about the comments, noting they were made before an investigation into the incident had been launched.
“Well, everything that I‘ve said has been proven to be factual and the truth,” Noem said. “This administration wants to operate in transparency. I have the responsibility as the secretary of Homeland Security to know this information as soon as possible.
“I 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,” Noem continued.
“With all due respect, Secretary, the first thing you said was, ‘what 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,’” Tapper said, summarizing her remarks. “That‘s not what happened. We all saw what happened.”
“It absolutely is what happened,” 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 Noem’s use of the term “domestic terrorist,” questioning how she could be so certain of her claims, Fox News noted.
“And the question is, I don‘t doubt…my position is I wasn‘t there,” Tapper said. “I didn‘t 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 don‘t know. What I‘m saying is, how do you know? How can you assert for a fact within hours before any investigation this is what happened?”
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“The 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 don‘t get to change the facts just because you don‘t like them,” Noem said.
She added that an investigation is ongoing.
Noem later accused Tapper of presenting an “untruthful” depiction of the event, which led Tapper to push back against her during the interview.
“We’ve all seen the video. I don‘t need to relitigate it. We‘ve all seen the video. She is blocking the street. They approach her,” Tapper said.
“You haven‘t seen the video of the entire morning in the previous encounters with this individual,” Noem said.
“We 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,” Tapper responded.
“At those previous locations that morning, that, absolutely, that these vehicles had been previously down the block on video that you haven‘t seen. There’s more information,” Noem said
