Following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old American citizen Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference to remind Americans that the agency tasked with protecting them from foreign threats is also remarkably effective at protecting itself from ordinary American citizens.
"Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation," Noem explained, clarifying that Good's decision to exist as an American citizen in a vehicle near federal agents conducting immigration operations constituted what the Secretary characterized as "an act of domestic terrorism."
The incident occurred when Good, who witnesses described as a legal observer monitoring federal enforcement actions, had her Honda Pilot surrounded by multiple ICE agents. According to witnesses, an agent tried to open the driver's side door, the motorist put her vehicle into reverse then into drive, and three shots were fired. Good, a U.S. citizen who was not a target for any ICE-related arrest, died at the scene.
Noem emphasized that Americans should feel safer knowing ICE agents are prepared to defend themselves against citizens who might inadvertently threaten them while the agents work to protect those same citizens from non-citizens. "This goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day," the Secretary noted, adding that the American people can rest assured their tax dollars are funding an agency capable of shooting first and determining citizenship status later.
Critics have pointed out that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents under Noem's leadership, while a Purple Heart recipient Army veteran was deported to Korea after Noem testified before Congress that her department had "not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans." Additionally, the department has overseen the deportation of American citizen children, including a 4-year-old with cancer.
When asked about these apparent contradictions during her recent congressional testimony, which she left early claiming a White House meeting that had been cancelled, Noem maintained that ICE's mission to keep Americans safe from immigrants sometimes requires keeping Americans safe from Americans who might interfere with keeping Americans safe from immigrants.
The Secretary concluded her remarks by encouraging all law-abiding citizens to continue supporting ICE operations and to remain confident that if they are shot by federal agents, it will have been entirely justified and in accordance with the agents' training.
