Noem defends her portrayal of killed Minneapolis protesters as agitators, in her Senate hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended her department's migration enforcement tactics successful beforehand of a Senate committee connected Tuesday and pushed backmost against disapproval from Democrats who accidental she wrongly disparaged 2 protesters killed by national officers successful Minneapolis earlier this year.

It was Noem’s archetypal legislature quality since the shooting deaths of the 2 protesters galvanized wide absorption to however the Trump medication is executing its wide deportation agenda, a centerpiece argumentation of President Donald Trump's 2nd term. At the time, Noem portrayed the protesters, 2 U.S. citizens, arsenic agitators, though accounts from section officials and bystander video contradicted assertions from her and different medication officials.

In 1 exchange, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called her enactment a “disaster” and skewered her handling of the migration crackdown and her absorption of exigency response.

In the hearing, which stretched astir 5 hours, Noem defended her agency’s attraction of immigrants caught up successful enforcement activities, and blamed activists and others for attacks against officers.

“I privation to code the unsafe situation that our ICE officers look connected the streets today," Noem said. “They are facing a superior and escalating menace arsenic a effect of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic enactment and rhetoric that demonizes our instrumentality enforcement.”

Since the deaths successful Minneapolis, the medication has taken steps meant to code down tensions, including drafting down the cognition there. But the medication has continued pressing restrictions against some ineligible and amerciable immigration, has been buying up warehouses for migration detention and persisting successful national enforcement successful areas astir the country. Noem said astir 650 investigators stay successful Minnesota arsenic portion of a broader fraud probe.

The migration tactics of Noem's section person triggered a clash successful Congress implicit its regular funding, which remains unresolved, though a spending measure passed past twelvemonth granted it a important infusion of currency for the Republican administration’s wide deportation policy. Noem called the partial shutdown “reckless” and blamed Democrats for a determination she said enactment nationalist information astatine risk.

Her quality successful beforehand of the Judiciary Committee besides comes aft a play shooting astatine a barroom successful Texas that is being investigated arsenic a imaginable enactment of terrorism, starring to concerns that the escalating struggle successful Iran could person repercussions for information successful the U.S.

Noem blames chaotic concern for her characterization of killed protesters

In what was initially billed arsenic an effort to basal retired fraud successful Minnesota, Homeland Security sent hundreds of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state. They were met by protesters who organized marches, patrolled neighborhoods for ICE enactment with whistles and ferried nutrient to immigrants excessively acrophobic to permission their homes.

Renee Good, a 37-year-old parent of three, was changeable and killed by an ICE serviceman connected Jan. 7, mounting disconnected aggravated protests demanding an extremity to the operation. Then connected Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers opened occurrence connected different Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been filming enforcement operations.

Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem, whose archetypal comments portrayed some Good and Pretti arsenic the aggressors, has travel nether withering disapproval by Democrats and immoderate Republicans, who person called for her to resign.

Democrats repeatedly questioned Noem astir her archetypal comments and called connected her to apologize.

“You and your bureau rushed to marque these victims as, quote, home terrorists,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the apical Democrat connected the committee. “We person ample video grounds and eyewitness grounds proving you are wrong. Your statements caused immeasurable symptom to these families.”

Noem said she was relying connected accusation from radical connected the country and blamed “violent protesters” for contributing to the chaos officers encountered.

“I was getting reports from the crushed from agents astatine the scene, and I would accidental that it was a chaotic scene,” she said.

After nationalist outrage implicit the deaths, Trump sent borderline czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to instrumentality power of operations. Homan has since announced a drawdown of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent to Minnesota to transportation retired what had been dubbed Operation Metro Surge, though he’s been adamant that the president’s wide deportation docket volition continue.

Noem besides faced immoderate Republican criticism

Republicans mostly kept the absorption connected the ample numbers of migrants who came into the state nether erstwhile President Joe Biden, portraying Noem arsenic the person of a cleanup effort of the erstwhile administration’s mess.

But she did travel nether immoderate harsh questioning by members of her ain party. Tillis, who called connected Noem to resign pursuing the shootings successful Minneapolis, criticized her for erroneously arresting American citizens, for failures successful her catastrophe betterment bureau and for however she changeable her ain dog.

“What we’ve seen is simply a catastrophe nether your leadership, Miss Noem, a disaster," Tillis said. “What we’ve seen is guiltless radical getting detained that crook retired are American citizens.”

Tillis, who has already announced that helium is not moving for different term., added: “We’re opening to get the American radical to deliberation that deporting radical is wrong. It’s the nonstop opposite. The mode you’re going astir deporting them is wrong." .

Another Republican, Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, besides pushed her to explicate wherefore her section paid much than $200 cardinal for an advertisement run she appeared successful past twelvemonth encouraging migrants to permission the state voluntarily and questioned whether Trump knew astir the terms tag up of time.

Noem, who is acceptable to look Wednesday successful beforehand of a House committee, defended those ads, saying they were effectual and went done the regular section bidding process.

“Well, they were effectual successful your sanction recognition,” Kennedy said.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.