Amid search for answers in Minneapolis ICE shooting, Trump says woman killed tried to ‘run over’ agent

(MINNEAPOLIS) — President Donald Trump said the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was at fault because she tried to “run over” the officer, according to an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday.  

“I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either,” Trump told the publication, calling it a “vicious situation.”

State and local officials have pushed back on the assertions from the White House and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calling the claims about the driver “b——-” and telling ICE to “get the f— out” and Gov. Tim Walz calling it “propaganda.”

The fatal shooting was captured on video by bystanders. In the video, which ABC News has verified, the driver, who was identified by city council members as Renee Nicole Good, is driving her SUV on a road near ICE officers. As one officer reaches for the SUV’s door handle, the vehicle lurches backward and then begins moving forward, rightward, seemingly away from the officers. One of the officers can be seen firing into the moving vehicle.

Protesters gathered on the city’s streets on Wednesday. And the FBI said in a statement, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”

Noem on Wednesday described the driver’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism,” saying that an “anti-ICE rioter weaponized her vehicle against law enforcement.”

“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement posted on social media.

State officials on Wednesday pushed back on such characterizations. The state’s attorney general, Keith Elllison, said in a statement that he was “heartbroken” over the shooting, but was also “angry. Very angry.” He accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing the federal government against the people of Minnesota.”

The death amounted to a “policy failure,” Ellison told ABC News in an interview, adding that there would be “an analysis on the use of force here.” Ellison said that the blame appeared to lie in part with Trump, who authorized the deployment, adding, “That’s not to take responsibility from the officer who used deadly force in a situation that does not appear to call for it.” 

Walz said on social media, “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said Wednesday that the department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working in conjunction with the FBI to investigate the shooting.

The FBI said in a statement on Wednesday, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”

Officials have not released the name of the officer who opened fire.

Trump on Wednesday had said the officer acted in “self defense.”

“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” he said in a post on social media. 

When Trump was pressed by the Times on how he drew his conclusions about the incident, the president reportedly had an aide play a video clip from a laptop to reinforce his point.

Asked if he believed firing into a vehicle similar to Wednesday’s shooting is acceptable, Trump reportedly stuck to his position, saying of Good that she “behaved horribly.”

“And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over,” Trump said, according to the repot.

Before playing the clip to the Times reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening.”

When reporters told him the clip he was showing did not appear to show an ICE officer was run over, he told them, “it’s a terrible scene.” 

“I think it’s horrible to watch,” Trump said. “No, I hate to see it.”

Ellison told ABC News that after he viewed the video, it was “clear to me” that the deadly force came as the driver was attempting to “evade” the officers, including the one who fatally shot her. 

“Renee Good deserves justice, and my office will not look away,” Ellison said on social media on Wednesday evening. “As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to pursue the truth and ensure accountability and transparency.”

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