Ocasio-Cortez Accuses ICE of ‘Assassinating Young Mother’ in Minneapolis
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of “assassinating a young mother in the street” during a heated exchange with reporters. The comments followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Mediaite reported.
An ICE agent identified as Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good on Wednesday during a disputed incident that was captured on video.
Trump and senior administration officials have publicly criticized Good since the shooting while defending the actions of the agent involved.
Ocasio-Cortez was asked Friday on Capitol Hill to respond to Republican claims that the shooting occurred because Good interfered with ICE operations.
“What would you say to your Republican colleagues, just the fact that they say that if these people would follow the law and not get involved with ICE and try and disrupt them collecting people who are here illegally?” a reporter asked.
After asking for the question to be repeated, Ocasio-Cortez responded sharply.
“I would not say that assassinating a young mother of three in the street is part of ICE’s mandate,” she said.
“ICE specifically has a mandate that has nothing to do with going after U.S. citizens,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez urged the public to review the video footage of the incident.
“Watch that video for yourself and you will see a woman trying to back up her vehicle and leave a volatile scene,” she said. “And she was met with three bullets to the face.”
“You tell me, and any law enforcement officer in the country worth their salt can tell you, that that is not how you handle that situation,” she claimed, though several police officers and police leaders have already publicly disagreed with her, including Chicago’s top cop.
Ocasio-Cortez also criticized ICE training standards and linked the agency’s practices to post-9/11 policies.
“This started with Patriot Act, post 9-11 violation of American civil liberties, and it continues in that stream,” she said.
Cellphone video footage released Friday shows the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal immigration agent during a confrontation that has intensified political tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
The video was released two days after an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, after authorities say she drove a vehicle toward officers during an encounter on a residential street, Fox News reported.
The footage, taken from an agent’s body camera, shows Good’s Honda Pilot stopped in the middle of the roadway, appearing to block traffic. In the video, Good is heard speaking calmly to one of the agents.
“That’s fine, dude,” she says. “I’m not mad.”
An agent then walks around the vehicle to check the license plate. Moments later, another agent approaches the driver’s side and orders Good to exit the vehicle.
“Get out of the car. Get out of the f—— car,” the agent is heard saying.
Seconds later, Good backs the vehicle up and then drives forward toward the agent wearing the body camera. The agent says “whoa” before multiple gunshots are fired. Good’s vehicle then crashes into a parked car.
Federal officials have said the agent acted in self-defense, asserting that Good used her vehicle as a weapon. The Trump administration has described the incident as an act of domestic terrorism, a characterization rejected by Democratic officials.
Authorities said Good had been following and harassing federal officers earlier in the day. Federal sources told Fox News that she was involved with “ICE Watch,” an immigration activist group that seeks to monitor and interfere with federal enforcement operations. Homeland Security officials said similar groups operate in multiple sanctuary cities nationwide.
The agent who fired the shots was identified by Minnesota-based outlet Alpha News as Jonathan Ross. The outlet published the 47-second clip on Jan. 9 and said it showed Ross’s perspective during the encounter.
