GOP Homeland Security chair calls for complete, impartial investigation into Minnesota shootings

WASHINGTON, DC: The chair of the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, February 10, called for a “complete and impartial” investigation into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two US citizens killed by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

As top Trump administration officials appeared before lawmakers for a high-profile oversight hearing, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) said the deaths have triggered growing tensions between federal immigration authorities, local governments and the communities they police, warning that the situation demands accountability without political interference.

“We have seen state and local jurisdictions refuse to protect federal law enforcement officers, and obviously, we have now seen the deaths of two American citizens in Minnesota,” Garbarino said. “This is all unacceptable and preventable.”

Garbarino stressed that both public safety and public trust are at stake.

“The safety of law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect must always come first,” he said. “When officials or elected leaders rush to conclusions about law enforcement or their fellow Americans, public trust suffers. There must be a complete and impartial investigation,” he added.

Conflicting narratives spark outrage

Administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, initially described Good and Pretti as agitators imperiling federal officers during enforcement operations.

Those claims have since been undermined by videos circulating publicly, fueling protests and intensifying demands for transparency surrounding the shootings.

The deaths occurred amid stepped-up immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, drawing scrutiny not only of the individual incidents but of broader ICE tactics under President Trump’s renewed deportation push.

Thompson unleashes blistering critique of ICE operations 

While Garbarino struck a measured tone, Rep Bennie Thompson (D-Miss), the committee’s ranking Democrat, delivered a blistering indictment of the Trump administration, accusing it of trampling civil liberties and undermining democratic norms.

“This administration is out of control,” Thompson said. “It has been running roughshod over Americans’ rights, killing US citizens and threatening our very democracy.”

“The disease rotting the Trump administration from the inside out started at the top and has infected every part of the executive branch,” he added. “Nowhere is that more evident than at the Department of Homeland Security.”

Thompson accused the administration of deliberately obstructing an investigation into Good’s killing last month, calling the alleged interference a hallmark of authoritarian rule.

“The blocking of an investigation into the government’s use of force against an American citizen is the sign of a dictatorship, not a democracy,” he said. “Every American should be outraged.”

Thompson slams DHS and ICE acting Director Todd Lyons

Thompson also accused DHS and ICE acting Director Todd Lyons of repeatedly refusing to comply with congressional oversight requests, noting that senior officials only agreed to testify after Pretti’s death intensified public pressure.

“This is part of a pattern of the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with regular congressional oversight,” he said.

The Mississippi Democrat reserved his harshest criticism for Noem, accusing the secretary of misleading the public about Pretti’s death and abusing the powers of her office.

“Secretary Noem has been gaslighting the American people with a demonstrably false story,” Thompson said, alleging that she has “enriched herself, abused the power of her office, obstructed congressional oversight and violated her oath to the Constitution.”

“Secretary Noem’s Department of Homeland Security has the blood of American citizens on its hands, but she takes no responsibility for anything,” he added, calling her a “liar” who should no longer serve in the role.

Lawmakers from both parties signaled that the outcome of the investigations into Good’s and Pretti’s deaths could shape future limits on immigration enforcement tactics and determine whether Congress moves to impose new guardrails on DHS authority.