Kristi Noem tells Tim Walz and Jacob Frey to 'grow up', defends her Minnesota ICE shooting remarks

WASHINGTON, DC: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday, January 11, sharply criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, telling them to “grow up” amid complaints that federal authorities were not allowing state officials to investigate the fatal shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good.

Appearing on CNN’s 'State of the Union', Noem accused Walz and Frey of politicizing the incident and fueling unrest in Minneapolis following the shooting.

“They’ve extremely politicized and inappropriately talked about the situation on the ground in their city,” Noem said. “They have inflamed the public. They have encouraged the kind of destruction and violence that we have seen in Minneapolis the last several days,” she said.

“I would encourage them to grow up, get some maturity, act like people who are responsible, who want people to be safe, and the right thing to be done,” she added.

Kristi Noem defends federal handling of ICE shooting investigation

Addressing concerns that federal agencies had sidelined state investigators, Noem said the Department of Homeland Security and ICE were following long-standing procedures.

“We do work with locals when they work with us. But on the investigation piece of it, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have a process and a protocol that we’ve always followed, and we’re doing the same thing in this situation,” she said.

Noem said that she wanted state and local officials to cooperate with DHS specifically on arresting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, while maintaining that the federal government would control the investigation into the shooting itself.

Kristi Noem stands by her remarks about Renee Nicole Good

The DHS secretary also defended comments she had made shortly after the shooting last week, when she described the actions of Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by the ICE agent, as an act of "domestic t*******m."

“If you look at what the definition of domestic t*******m is, it completely fits the situation on the ground,” Noem said.

She said video footage released by DHS showed that the ICE officer was struck by Good’s vehicle.

“This individual, as you saw in the video that we released just 48 hours after this incident, showed that this officer was hit by her vehicle,” Noem said. 

“She weaponized it, and he defended his life and those colleagues around him and the public.”

Pressed on how she could make definitive statements about Good’s actions and intent before an investigation was complete, Noem said that she had reviewed evidence and spoken directly with officers and their supervisors before addressing the public.

“I had spoken to the officers and their supervisors and watched videos before I went to speak at the press conference,” she said.

Noem did not acknowledge the possibility raised by local officials that Good may have been attempting to flee the scene rather than attack officers.

“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,” she said.