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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a woman who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis was “using a vehicle to try to kill an officer and his colleagues,” noting all elected officials should denounce violent acts against law enforcement.
During a news conference at the Texas southern border, Noem said ICE agents were conducting enforcement action in Minneapolis Wednesday morning when their vehicle got stuck in the snow.
As they were attempting to push the vehicle, she said a woman “attacked them and those surrounding them” and “attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”
“It was an act of domestic terrorism,” Noem said. “An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot to protect himself and the people around him.”
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The woman, who has not yet been publicly identified, was pronounced dead.
Though additional details about the incident have not yet been released, Noem said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working with the Department of Justice to prosecute those accused of attacks on law enforcement.
The shooting came days after DHS deployed 2,000 additional officers to the Minneapolis area, sparking protests in the blue city.
Noem said ICE officers have arrested “hundreds and hundreds of dangerous criminals” in Minneapolis, including violent offenders.
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“The act like we saw today … is something that every politician, every elected official, everyone in this country, should be able to rally around and say that it is wrong,” she said. “That sanctuary cities and sanctuary states that protect individuals who do that should no longer be allowed. That those individuals that are in leadership positions in these sanctuary jurisdictions need to work with us to make sure that every single person that’s out there enforcing the law can be safe, but also so that all of our citizens can continue to be safe too.”
She added that President Donald Trump continues to work to ensure those in both red and blue states are able to live in a safe community and raise their children without fear.
Wednesday’s incident comes months after controversy in October when an ICE agent shot a Chicago woman seven times during Operation Midway Blitz.
DHS initially claimed federal agents were ambushed by several protesters, including one who they said was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
Officials described the woman, later identified as Marimar Martinez, as a “domestic terrorist” and charged her and another driver with using their cars to box in and ram federal agents’ vehicle.
However, federal prosecutors ultimately dropped the case after it went to court, where testimony and video evidence suggested the federal agents may have initiated the collision.
It was also revealed Martinez was a legal concealed-carry permit holder and never brandished her legally owned weapon that remained in her car’s glovebox.
Martinez and her legal team have alluded that they plan to file a civil lawsuit against the agent who shot her.
Fox News’ Garrett Tenney contributed to this report.
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