Noem Says Hundreds of Agents Are Being Sent to Minneapolis

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that hundreds of additional federal officers are being sent to Minneapolis to ensure the safety of ICE and Border Patrol personnel already there. Appearing on Fox News, Noem said the agents were to go Sunday and Monday, the Washington Post reports. Although the deployment comes during protests over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer's killing of Renee Nicole Good, the secretary gave the reason as fraud scandals involving government programs in Minnesota, per the New York Times.

People in Minnesota's Twin Cities were preparing Sunday for what the Department of Homeland Security calls its largest enforcement operation ever, per the AP. People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners in the neighborhood where Good was killed Wednesday, watching for signs of federal agents. More than 20,000 people have taken part in trainings to become "observers" of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization. "It's a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors," Argueta said.

Federal and local officials on Sunday hardened their conflicting accounts of Good's death, per the Post. Noem and other Trump administration officials have repeatedly said the agent fired in self-defense and that Good was responsible for her own death, accusing her of using her SUV as a weapon and calling her actions "domestic terrorism" within hours of the shooting. Video circulating online appears to show the officer moving out of the path of Good's vehicle and firing at least two shots from the side as the car passed. Noem told CNN that "everything that I said has been proven to be factual." She said there is video not yet made public that shows the officer being struck by Good's vehicle.

The FBI has taken control of the investigation and is not allowing Minnesota agencies to participate, prompting Minneapolis officials to launch their own. Mayor Jacob Frey said there is "deep mistrust" about an FBI-only probe and criticized what he called a rush by federal officials to fix a narrative before facts are established. Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, told ABC the administration's early statements undermine confidence in an "objective, unbiased" investigation.