Noem Denies, Then Admits Feds' Use of Chemical Agents

Kristi Noem spent part of a Sunday talk show batting away accusations that her department used pepper spray on protesters—until video evidence forced a change in her story. Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, the Homeland Security secretary initially claimed a recent federal court order restricting chemical agents at Minnesota immigration protests was unnecessary because "we already aren't doing" what the judge barred.

• But when host Margaret Brennan cited a video showing federal officers deploying chemical irritants on crowds, Noem shifted, saying that protesters were responsible for provoking the response and that officers "only use those chemical agents when there's violence happening and perpetuating," the New York Times reports.

• That explanation conflicts with the findings of US District Judge Kate Menendez of the Federal District Court in Minnesota, who issued the injunction Friday. In her ruling, she said agents had used chemical irritants against protesters on at least four occasions and called the evidence "uncontroverted." Menendez concluded that federal agents used such measures to punish people for engaging in protected First Amendment activity, including observing and protesting ICE operations, and rejected the government's claim that force was used only after attacks on officers.
• The lawsuit behind the injunction was filed in December by activists protesting or monitoring immigration enforcement in Minnesota, weeks before an ICE agent fatally shot an unarmed US citizen, Renee Good, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

• The judge's order also bars agents from using crowd-control tools in retaliation for speech and from stopping protesters in vehicles unless they are actively interfering. On Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department's decision not to investigate the shooting, saying it would amount to caving to "pressure from the media" and politicians. Several federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned to protest the DOJ's push to investigate Good's widow.

• Noem said DHS is conducting its own internal review and separately claimed that "every single" person arrested in the immigration crackdown had broken the law and that 70% had committed or been charged with violent offenses—going beyond her department's own public statistic that about 70% had been charged with or convicted of any crime.
• Noem scolded Brennan when she asked about Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot Good, Politico reports. "Don't say his name, for heaven's sakes," Noem said. "We shouldn't have people continue to dox law enforcement." After Brennan replied, "His name is published," Noem said, "I know but that doesn't mean it should continue to be said."