Kristi Noem turned evasive when CNN’s Jake Tapper suggested she was holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to a “different standard” than law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, the homeland security secretary defended her assertion that Renee Nicole Good, 37, had been committing “an act of domestic terrorism” when she was shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis last week.
However, when Tapper asked Noem if officers who were present at the Capitol during the 2021 attack would have been “justified in shooting and killing the people causing them physical harm,” she dodged the question completely.
“Every single situation is going to rely on the situation those officers are on,” Noem said. “But they know that when people are putting hands on them, when they are using weapons against them, when they’re physically harming them, that they have the authority to arrest those individuals.”
After Tapper pointed out that President Donald Trump pardoned the rioters at the Capitol, including those who had been charged with assaulting police officers, Noem once again deflected.
“That’s one thing that President Trump has been so focused on — is making sure that when we’re out there, we don’t pick and choose which situations are en— which laws are enforced and which ones aren’t,” she said. “Every single one is being enforced under the Trump administration, and the clarity of the law stands. And if people don’t like it, these members of Congress and elected officials should go change the law and make sure they have that debate.”
Tapper, however, was not convinced.
“I just showed you video of people attacking law enforcement officers ― undisputed proof, undisputed evidence,” he said. “And I just said President Trump pardoned all of them. And you said that President Trump is enforcing all the laws equally. It’s just not true. There’s a different standard for law enforcement officials being attacked if they’re being attacked by Trump supporters.”
Noem, however, simply doubled down on her claim that the Trump administration was focused on bringing “perpetuators of violence back to justice,” and did not mention Jan. 6 at all.
Noem and other members of the Trump administration have defended Ross’ shooting of Good as self-defense. Multiple video recordings, however, show Good was trying to pull away from the officers when Ross shot into her vehicle.
Moments after Noem’s “State of the Union” appearance, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey quickly rejected her “wild and crazy” claims.
“You know how many shootings we’ve had so far this year? Two, and one of them was ICE,” he told Tapper. “This is a safe city. ICE and Kristi Noem and everything they’re doing is making it far less safe.”
He went on to note: “Am I biased in this? Of course, and I’m biased because I’ve got two eyes. Anybody can see these videos. Anybody can see that this victim is not a domestic terrorist.”
Watch Jake Tapper’s interview with Kristi Noem here.