Vice President JD Vance, while defending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer's shooting of a Minneapolis woman as an act of self-defense, vowed that the White House will not tolerate political violence of any kind.
He also promised that the White House will fight domestic terrorism while intensifying efforts to identify financing and organizing networks it believes are behind the growing actions against federal immigration officers.
"These people should not feel emboldened because they have, for the first time, maybe in American history, an administration that is not going to tolerate political violence of any kind from anywhere," Vance told reporters at the press conference, shown live on Newsmax.
Vance spoke as federal authorities investigate the shooting of Renee Nicole Good during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
He repeatedly said the officer acted in self-defense and rejected claims that the shooting amounted to murder.
"She was trying to ram this guy with her car. He shot back. He defended himself," Vance said.
Vance sharply criticized media coverage of the incident, saying it endangered officers and distorted what occurred.
"The way that the media, by and large, has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace," he said. "And it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day."
Vance said he deliberately described the incident as an attack rather than a shooting.
"And I say attack very, very intentionally because this was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people," he said.
He said President Donald Trump and he stand behind immigration officers.
"The president stands with ICE. I stand with ICE. We stand with all of our law enforcement officers," Vance said.
Vance accused some reporters of spreading false narratives about the woman who was killed.
"Everybody who has been repeating the lie that this is some innocent woman who was out for a drive in Minneapolis when a law enforcement officer shot at her, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Every single one of you," he said.
Pressed on whether he was prejudging the outcome of the investigation, Vance said he could not know the woman's intent but said the officer had reason to fear for his life.
"Look, I do not know what is in a person's heart or in a person's head," Vance said. "What I am certain of is that she violated the law."
He said the officer had "every reason to think that he was under very serious threat for injury, or in fact, his life," adding that the woman "accelerated in a way where she ran into the guy."
Vance said debate about whether the woman panicked or acted deliberately was fair, but he rejected descriptions of the shooting as unjustified.
"Was she panicking when she drove into this officer, or was she actually trying to ram him? That is a reasonable conversation," he said.
"What is not reasonable is for so many of you to plaster all over the media that this was an innocent woman and that the ICE agent committed murder," Vance said.
Vance also said the administration believes there is a broader organizing effort aimed at interfering with immigration enforcement.
"There is an entire network, and frankly, some of the media are participating in it, that is trying to incite violence against our law enforcement officers," he said.
"Part of our investigatory work is getting to the bottom of it. Who is funding it, who is supporting it, who is cheerleading it ... who told protesters to show up and engage in violent activity against our law enforcement officers?" he added. "There's an entire network."
He urged critics of the administration's immigration policies to channel opposition through elections rather than confrontations with officers.
"Why don't you take this to the ballot box? Why don't you vote? Why don't you organize?" Vance said, adding that some activists are "encouraging people to get violent with our law enforcement officials."
Vance said lowering political tensions requires stopping attacks on officers and enforcing the law, citing claims that violent crime dropped 20% over the past year.
"Have your debates about policy. Attack me. Attack the President of the United States. Do not attack our law enforcement officers," he said. "They are not policy actors. They are enforcing the law."
Vance criticized Minnesota leaders, particularly Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, accusing them of contributing to hostility toward federal agents.
"What I would like Minnesota to focus on is the real issue, that they are encouraging people," Vance said, while calling on the governor to resign.
"Minneapolis officials are encouraging people to commit violence against ICE officials," said Vance.
He also said any attempt by state or local authorities to prosecute the ICE officer would fail.
"You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action. That is a federal issue," Vance said. "That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job."
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