White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt questioned why protesters in Minneapolis were so enraged as she took reporters' questions Monday.
"I think it's very striking that all weekend long you had agitators and violent American citizens out in the streets of Minneapolis protesting — protesting what, exactly?" Leavitt asked.
"Apparently, they are protesting the removal of heinous murderers and rapists and criminals from a city that I can guarantee you — when you look at the list of the illegal criminals that ICE is removing from our communities every day — not a single person in those protests and not a single person standing here that works in the mainstream media in Washington, D.C., would want those individuals in your neighborhood, in your community, around your children, and around your families," she said.
In remarks that aired Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said DHS is deploying "hundreds" more officers to Minnesota after tens of thousands of people marched through the city over the weekend to protest the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed after Ross said he discharged his firearm in self-defense when she struck him with her vehicle.
Leavitt continued by saying the Trump administration would "continue to stand wholeheartedly by the brave men and women of ICE," including Ross, whom she said was "absolutely justified in using self-defense against a lunatic who was part of … an organized group to interject and to impede on law enforcement operations."
The immigration enforcement agency is "doing an incredibly important job," Leavitt said, that is crucial to national security.
"It's disgusting what we have seen from the left, and I think that it just shows you where the modern-day Democrat Party stands today in protecting illegal alien pedophiles and rapists and murderers over law-abiding American citizens and our brave men and women who serve in law enforcement," she said.
Demonstrators and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have called for ICE to leave their community, want justice for Good, and look for Minnesota to be involved in the FBI-led investigation.
According to reports, state law enforcement agencies have not been given access to all evidence.
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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