US homeland chief accuses Democrats of inciting violence after woman killed

People hold signs outside the Trump tower in New York as they participate in a protest organised by Rise and Resist against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities and the US intervention in Venezuela. Photo / Timothy A. Clary, AFP

United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem today accused Democrats of encouraging violence against immigration officers, as anger festered over the killing of a woman by a federal agent in Minneapolis.

As rallies were being held across the country to mourn the death of Renee Nicole Good, Noem reiterated the Trump Administration’s position that the 37-year-old was a “domestic terrorist”, and that the agent had acted in self-defence when he shot Good dead in her car last week.

Prominent Democratic officials, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have strongly disputed this narrative, saying that footage from the scene shows Good’s vehicle turning away from the agent and not posing a threat to his life.

“These locals, if you look at what Governor Walz has said, if you look at what Mayor Frey has said, they’ve extremely politicised and inappropriately talked about the situation on the ground in their city,” Noem said on CNN.

“They’ve inflamed the public. They’ve encouraged the kind of destruction and violence that we’ve seen in Minneapolis the last several days.”

Since the shooting, thousands of people have demonstrated peacefully in several cities across the US, demanding a full investigation into the circumstances of the deadly encounter.

Democratic officials are particularly critical of the fact that local investigators have been excluded from the investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI.

“It should be a neutral, unbiased investigation where you get the facts,” Frey told CNN.

He also described as legitimate activists’ actions to disrupt immigration enforcement operations, such as one in which Good was involved.

“You need to enforce laws, of course, but there’s also a requirement that you carry out laws and carry out enforcement in a constitutional way,” Frey added.

“We’ve got pregnant women getting dragged through the street. We’ve got high schoolers just getting - American citizens, by the way - getting taken away.”

-Agence France-Presse