Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday night urged caution following the fatal shooting of a motorist who allegedly tried to run over a federal agent in Minneapolis.
Pence, appearing on CNN, defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and said he wanted state and local authorities nationwide to better assist with immigration enforcement efforts.
"This is a moment where I think we need to be careful to rush to judgment in any way," Pence said. "In my experience as vice president, I found both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers to be some of the most dedicated men and women in law enforcement in the United States.
"In the wake of the open-border policies of the Biden administration, where we saw some 10 million people come across the border, these men and women are doing a hard job. …
"What I would like to see is more support from local and state officials for ICE agents doing a very hard job."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday night that although any death is a "tragedy," the shooting was justified.
She said the woman who was killed, Renee Good, 37, had been blocking officers with her vehicle, harassing them throughout the day, and "attempted to run a law enforcement officer over" before she was shot.
"I also think today should be a cautionary tale that people ought not to [do], as reports in this case suggest, people ought not to be harassing ICE officers," Pence said. "They ought not to be trying to obstruct them as they do their work.
"And in any case, that you deal with law enforcement, as I learned from the time I was a little boy, when a police officer tells you to do something, you need to do it.
"You need to stop. You need to respect law enforcement. And I think those are some of the lessons of today.
"But I'm confident we'll get to the bottom of what happened here, and the system will work."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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