Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that immigration enforcement surge will continue in Minneapolis, and five Republican senators vote to limit war powers for President Donald Trump.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down on her assertion that the woman shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis Wednesday was a domestic terrorist. She insisted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer had followed standard operating procedure and acted in self-defense when he fired at least two shots into a vehicle driven by protestor Renee Nicole Macklin Good.
“This is an experienced officer who followed his training, and we will continue to let the investigation unfold,” Noem said at a news conference in New York City, where she announced the arrest of 54 undocumented immigrants loosely affiliated with the Dominican American Trinitarios gang.
Videos of Macklin Good’s shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
As dozens of protesters gathered early Thursday outside of a federal building on the edge of Minneapolis that is serving as a major base for the immigration crackdown, Noem pledged to continue an immigration enforcement surge that began earlier in the week with 2,000 federal agents she said were intended to carry out the “largest immigration operation ever.”
“I’m not opposed to sending more to keep people safe,” she said.
She encouraged elected officials in Minneapolis and other cities “to talk about partnership and start working with ICE and start working with CBP as we bring criminals to justice,” to avoid future deadly incidents between protesters and immigration enforcement.
The Homeland Security secretary also defended the U.S. Attorney’s Office for barring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from investigating and denying it access to case materials, evidence and interviews, saying the state’s investigative agency had no jurisdiction.
She said the Minnesota agency should instead be “investigating all of these people that are harassing and inciting violence on law enforcement officers right now.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed backed, insisting on Thursday that the state be part of the investigation.
“No function of government operates with impunity. When someone’s in a position of authority and they commit any act that impacts our people, there has to be another place to turn to get justice,” he said during a news conference.
The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the Western Hemisphere.
Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House. Still, it was a significant gesture that showed unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid over the weekend.
Trump’s administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government, but the war powers resolution would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country.
“To me, this is all about going forward,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, one of the five Republican votes. “If the president should determine, ‘You know what? I need to put troops on the ground of Venezuela.’ I think that would require Congress to weigh in.”
The other Republicans who backed the resolution were Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana.
Trump reacted to their votes by saying on social media that they “should never be elected to office again” and that the vote “greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security.”
Democrats had failed to pass several such resolutions in the months that Trump escalated his campaign against Venezuela. But lawmakers argued that now that Trump has captured Maduro and set his sights to other conquests such as Greenland, the vote presents Congress with an opportunity.
“This wasn’t just a procedural vote. It’s a clear rejection of the idea that one person can unilaterally send American sons and daughters into harm’s way without Congress, without debate,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff
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