Sen. Tina Smith said Sunday that the Trump administration is trying to hide the facts behind the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good by refusing to assist state and local officials in the investigation.
The Minnesota Democrat accused President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of “attempting to cover up what happened here in the Twin Cities.”
“Everything that they are doing is trying to shape the narrative, to say what happened without any investigation,” Ms. Smith said on ABC’s This Week. “You know, hours after Renee Good was shot and killed by federal agents, Kristi Noem was already telling us exactly what had happened. They were calling her a domestic terrorist before they even knew what her name was.”
Her charge comes four days after the shooting of Ms. Good, which has become the latest flashpoint in the intensifying debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in Democratic‑led cities.
The finger‑pointing showed no sign of letting up Sunday as supporters and critics of the administration clashed over what should happen next across the weekend political talk shows.
Much of the focus Sunday centered on the FBI’s handling of the investigation.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and local officials — including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — say the federal government has shut them out and raised concerns about the probe’s impartiality
“It should be a neutral, unbiased investigation,” Mr. Frey said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I shouldn’t be the one conducting the investigation, nor should Kristi Noem. But you should have an entity that is able to do it with some common sense and operating in reality.”
White House Border Czar Tom Homan pushed back on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I trust that the FBI will do a thorough investigation,” he said. ”They’re professionals. So let them do the investigation.”
Ms. Noem, meanwhile, suggested federal authorities are reluctant to involve Gov. Tim Walz, Mr. Frey, and other local leaders because of their refusal to cooperate with immigration enforcement and their political rhetoric on the topic.
“They have inflamed the public,” she said on CNN’s State of the Union. “I would encourage them to grow up, get some maturity, act like people who are responsible, who want people to be safe and the right thing to be done.
“When you use the kind of language that you use against law enforcement officers, they lose their credibility,” she said.
Ms. Noem also defended her decision to label Ms. Good a “domestic terrorist” in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, saying, “Everything that I have said has been proven to be factual and the truth.”
Ms. Smith said she isn’t buying it and that nothing to suggest Ms. Good “in any way” posed a threat to the officers.
“But again, this is why we need to have a fair and unbiased investigation, so we can gather all of the evidence and all of the information, and we can know exactly what’s happening,” she said. “What I think is going on is the administration does not want that to happen, and that looks to me like a cover-up,” she said.
