Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed a Minneapolis woman’s fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer on “a left-wing network,” Democrats, the news media, and the woman herself, appearing at the White House briefing room as protests over her killing spread to cities across the country. Vance called the death of 37-year-old Renee Good — shot Wednesday while trying to drive away during an immigration enforcement operation on a snowy residential Minneapolis street — “a tragedy of her own making.”
Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed Renee Good’s fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer on “a left-wing network,” Democrats, the news media, and Good herself, appearing at the White House briefing room as protests over her killing spread to cities across the country.
Good, 37, was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Wednesday while trying to drive away during an immigration enforcement operation on a snowy residential street in Minneapolis. Vance called her death “a tragedy of her own making.”
“I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognizing that it’s a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement — a lunatic fringe — against our law enforcement officers,” Vance said.
Vance joined President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in publicly asserting the ICE officer acted in justified self-defense, even as the investigation into Good’s death remained underway and video of the shooting does not clearly show whether Good’s vehicle made contact with the officer.
Disputed video evidence
Vance said at the White House that he was not worried about prejudging the investigation, saying of the video, “What you see is what you get in this case.” He said he was certain Good had accelerated her vehicle into the officer.
Videos of the shooting do not clearly show whether Good’s vehicle made contact with the officer, according to the Associated Press. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday that arguments the officer was acting in self-defense were “garbage.”
Trump said Good “viciously ran over” the ICE officer. Video footage of the event contradicts that characterization, according to the Associated Press. Noem said the officer’s actions constituted justified self-defense.
Administration statements
Leavitt, speaking before Vance appeared, called Good’s killing “a result of a large, sinister left-wing movement” and said the Trump administration would “redouble our efforts to get the worst of the worst criminal, illegal alien killers, rapists and pedophiles off of American streets.”
Vance directed sharp criticism at journalists covering the shooting, saying they were wrong to portray Good as “innocent.” “The way that the media, by and large, has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace,” Vance said. “And it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day.”
When asked what responsibility he and Trump bore to reduce tensions over the incident, Vance said their obligation was to “protect the people who are enforcing law and protect the country writ large.” He said the appropriate path for those with concerns about immigration policy was to “take their concerns about immigration policy to the ballot box.”
New prosecutor announced
Vance also announced that the administration was deputizing a new assistant attorney general to prosecute abuse of government assistance programs, saying the position would focus primarily on Minnesota. He said the position would be “run out of the White House under the supervision of me and the president.”
Vance said Senate Majority Leader John Thune told him he would seek prompt confirmation of the nominee, who Vance said would be named in coming days. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about the new role.
Trump has made a wide-ranging push on immigration enforcement a priority of his second term, deploying federal law enforcement officials and National Guard troops to support operations in American cities.