House Republicans defend ICE agent in fatal shooting, say use of force was justified

Republicans on Capitol Hill moved quickly to defend a federal ICE agent involved in a fatal shooting in Minnesota, saying the officer acted within his bounds after facing what authorities described as an immediate threat.

“They were within their right to defend themselves. He was defending himself,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., said.

“We have to show respect for the ICE agent. We have to show respect to our public safety officials,” he added.

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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have split largely along party lines on whether the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday in a suburb outside of Minneapolis had reacted reasonably. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agent fired at Good when she had first attempted to disrupt an ICE arrest, refused orders to exit her car, began driving away and placing an ICE agent in the path of her moving vehicle.

“If you look at the tape, you’ll see that that person was using a car as a weapon against this ICE agent, actually hitting him with the car,” Carter said.

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., echoed Carter’s reasoning.

“I mean, law enforcement says, ‘Hey, stop, open up your door, let me see your ID.’ And then not only do you take off, but you go right at somebody as they jump out of the way of the car — basically you’re trying to run them over,” Meuser said.

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Democrats have challenged that narrative, arguing that the shooting was the result of a developing culture within law enforcement that prioritizes aggressiveness over safety.

Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., believes that culture comes from the top down.

“The killing of Renee Good is not simply the result of one officer’s actions,” Schneider said in a statement on Friday. “It is the product of an enforcement culture that has grown increasingly aggressive, unaccountable, violent and chaotic.”

“ICE’s actions in Minnesota and across the country, including in Illinois, are not making us safer. Instead, they are bringing fear and violence to our streets under the direction of Secretary [Kristi] Noem,” Schneider said, referring to the DHS secretary. 

Republicans largely came to the defense of Noem and the administration when reacting to the incident, stressing the perceived threat the officer responded to.

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Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., believes the shooting could have been avoided altogether if state leaders had helped de-escalate rhetoric surrounding ICE’s operations.

“What happened is two people got involved in a situation that could have been avoided, had she not been obstructing the law,” he said. “And then when they went to go arrest her, she tried to drive away with a person in front of her car. He made a quick decision. That scenario escalated very rapidly, and somebody died.”

“That’s not good for anybody,” McCormick added.