Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Sunday defended Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's quick characterization of a fatal confrontation involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as "domestic terrorism," saying the video shows a protester used her vehicle as a weapon.
"The fact is that Renee Good was interfering with police activity," the Oklahoma Republican told CNN's "State of the Union." "There's no question about that right now."
He added that Noem was "absolutely, 100% correct" in describing what happened and said the key facts are already clear, as video and body-worn camera footage show Good accelerated after agents ordered her to exit her vehicle.
"There was no question at this point that she accelerated after she was given verbal commands to get out of her vehicle," he said.
Mullin added that footage from "different angles from different people's phones" shows she accelerated toward an agent, calling the vehicle "a lethal weapon."
"At that point, that vehicle becomes a lethal weapon, and the agents had the right to defend themselves," Mullin said. "They exited the vehicle, gave a verbal command. She wasn't listening."
Mullin said it did not matter whether Good intended to strike the agent or was attempting to flee, saying the danger to officers was the same.
"It doesn't make any difference if you accidentally run over a police officer," Mullin said.
"If you are accelerating at a fast rate of speed, driving your vehicle down the road and you cause the death of a civilian, you are charged with involuntary manslaughter because you're driving your vehicle in a reckless manner," he said.
Mullin said Good "purposely blocked the ICE agents" and said the confrontation left law enforcement little time to react.
"He doesn't have five seconds, 10 seconds," Mullin said. "He has a split decision on what he can do to protect his life and those around him."
As questions were raised about whether an officer was directly in front of the vehicle for each shot fired, Mullin pointed to law enforcement training to explain the sequence.
"Anybody that's been trained in law enforcement or even in the military, you don't train just to shoot the one shot," Mullin said. "You're always trying to shoot two or three shots. Typically, it's three."
"It's called a triangle one, two, three, or running the buttons one, two, three or a zipper," he said. "So the three shot is a full-fledged muscle memory."
Mullin said the threat remained active until the vehicle stopped.
"When he was firing the first and second shot, it wasn't a clean stop," Mullin said. "And so the threat was still taking place.""
Mullin said the fatal encounter "should never have taken place," but placed responsibility on the protester and broader protest activity.
He criticized what he described as "professional protesters" and said "individuals need to be held accountable."
Turning to Iran, Mullin said he supports Trump's posture toward the Iranian government amid nationwide demonstrations, while distinguishing between the country's leadership and its citizens.
"We're not at war with the Iranian people," Mullin said. "It's the terrorist regime that's trying to run that country that is at war with us."
He said Trump has made clear the United States would act if the government escalates violence against protesters.
"And the president has made it very clear that if they begin to kill their own people and slaughter them, that the United States will be forced to interfere at that point," Mullin said. "And I would back the president."
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