Former Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf blamed the anti-immigration enforcement policies of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for Wednesday's fatal city shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
During an ICE operation in Minneapolis, a driver allegedly blocked agents with her vehicle, ignored police commands, and tried to flee the scene — prompting agents to open fire when her vehicle approached one of them.
The driver, who was killed, was later identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" Thursday morning, Wolf said Frey and Walz's anti-ICE policies "drove this incident to where it is today."
"They have sanctuary city policies," he said. "They don't let ICE go into jail settings and pick up dangerous illegal aliens."
Wolf argued that when state and local leaders limit cooperation, federal agents lose the ability to take custody of suspects in controlled environments like jails, which he said increases the likelihood of tension, chaos, and violence.
"They don't let the police department help ICE when they do have to go out into the streets," Wolf said, calling the leaders' public comments on the incident at a Wednesday news conference "unhinged, unintelligent, and reckless."
He then called on both men to put public safety above politics and optics.
"Do your job, governor. Do your job, mayor," Wolf said. "Allow ICE and cooperate with ICE. And we wouldn't have this issue."
According to the former DHS official, video of the incident shows that Good made some dangerous decisions in the moments before the ICE agent opened fire.
"I'm going to wait for the investigation to completely play out, but here's what I know, which is if you park your car in the middle of the street, in the middle of an ICE operation, you're going to have issues," he said.
She ignored commands from law enforcement and attempted to flee, Wolf said, creating what he called an immediate threat to the officers on scene.
"It's clear that she did not adhere to the direction and to the warnings of those law enforcement officers," he said, noting that she "tried to abscond ... almost running over a law enforcement officer" in the process.
He rejected Frey's comments that the driver was simply trying to leave, arguing that refusing lawful orders escalates any encounter.
"When you try to get away from law enforcement, that's a problem," Wolf said. "They've given you direction.
"They've told you to either turn off your car or to get out of your vehicle. She doesn't appear to be doing any of that."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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