Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said Friday morning to Newsmax that Democrat leaders and allied media "demonized" federal law enforcement and helped create the volatile climate that preceded the Minneapolis shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Wednesday.
Appearing on "National Report," Meuser argued that sanctuary policies and anti-ICE rhetoric from Minnesota's top officials and Minneapolis leadership set the stage for confrontation, warning that portraying agents as villains can inflame extremists.
"They have demonized federal agents and not just the media," he said. "The media in many cases should be ashamed of themselves."
He also blamed the previous Democrat White House for promoting policies that encouraged sanctuary jurisdictions for illegal aliens.
"The Biden administration created an enormous problem," Meuser said.
"These cities created enormous problems by having sanctuary cities. Now, they think it's a great idea to protect the illegals."
Meuser said Minneapolis became a focal point for ICE activity after a major fraud investigation revealed that many of the alleged perpetrators have ties to illegal immigration.
"The main reason that ICE is in Minneapolis, it began with the fraud," he said, adding that investigators later found "there were so many illegals that were part of it."
Meuser specifically cited Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis leadership, saying "these blue governors and blue mayors … like Walz and the mayor of Minneapolis have created a very volatile environment that has put people against federal law enforcement and created this sad situation."
He suggested that Good had been "radicalized" by years of Democrat rhetoric comparing ICE to authoritarian police forces.
"She's being told … that ICE is the gestapo," Meuser said, calling the situation "very, very tragically" avoidable.
Meuser stressed he was not prejudging the incident but said political and media messaging helped create the conditions for violence.
"I'm not saying this … shooting was … appropriate or justified," he said, adding that the "volatile environment … was caused by the Democrat leadership and the media."
Saying "it needs to stop," Meuser urged local officials to work with ICE and the Trump administration going forward.
"We need a level of cooperation to work with ICE, to work with federal law, to work with President [Donald] Trump," he said.
"A lot of this has to do with President Trump. I mean, if this was perhaps any other president, they'd be welcoming this situation so as they could bring law and order to their cities."
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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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