Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called it “deeply concerning” that the Trump administration “has already come to a conclusion” about the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday.
Frey also ripped Vice President JD Vance, calling it “pretty bizarre” that Vance asserted the ICE officer who shot Good is protected by “absolute immunity.”
Following Good’s death, Trump administration officials alleged that Good intentionally hit the ICE officer in question with her car. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good’s actions “an act of domestic terrorism” and said the officer “fired defensive shots.” Democratic officials in Minnesota, such as Frey and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have rejected this narrative, encouraging Minnesotans to honor Good and peacefully protest.
“From the very beginning, they’re calling the victim a domestic terrorist,” Frey said during a Friday press conference. “They’re calling the actions of the agent involved as some form of defensive posture, we know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation, and even if they haven’t, there is the appearance that there is some conclusion drawn from the very beginning.”
Vance defended the ICE officer in question at a press briefing with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday. Vance said Good was carrying out “an attack on law and order.”
When asked by a reporter why federal law enforcement officials, and not state or local officials, are carrying out the investigation into the shooting, Vance said it is a federal issue.
“The idea that Tim Walz and a bunch of radicals in Minneapolis are going to go after and make this guy’s life miserable, because he was doing the job that he was asked to do, is preposterous,” Vance told reporters.
“The precedent here is very simple,” Vance said. “You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action. That’s a federal issue. That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job.”
Vance called the idea “unprecedented” that local Minnesota law enforcement could “prosecute a federal official with absolute immunity.”
Legal experts have debated the immunity application, however, with some pushing back on the notion that ICE officers are entitled to absolute immunity.
Frey called Vance’s claims “bizarre” and “concerning” on Friday.
“JD Vance’s concept of absolute immunity is pretty bizarre,” Frey said. “It’s extremely concerning.”
MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING IGNITES DEBATE OVER FEDERAL OFFICER IMMUNITY
Frey reiterated that Minneapolis and Minnesota officials are asking for the state’s criminal investigation agency, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to be involved with the shooting investigation.
“Our ask is to embrace the truth,” Frey said. “Our ask is to include the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this process because we, in Minneapolis, want a fair investigation.”