Minneapolis mayor, police chief concerned ICE crackdown could lead to further violence
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey appeared on WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy, alongside Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and called into question claims federal immigration enforcement agencies have made in the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer.
"The story that's coming out of this from the federal government is that this ICE agent was hit and run over by a car," Frey said.
On Wednesday, President Trump responded to the shooting by claiming that Good "ran over" the ICE officer who shot her, later identified as Jonathan Ross. On Friday, new video was released and shared by Vice President JD Vance, showing the interaction from the point of view of Ross, who was recording the incident from his cell phone.
"If he was hit and run over by a car, how the hell is he still holding on to his cell phone afterwards?" Frey asked. "I mean, I've dropped my cell phone numerous times by barely getting brushed, yet he can get hit by a car, and he's still hanging on, hanging on to it?"
Frey said that he has seen no indication of ICE actions equivocating or altering course since Good's killing.
"You would hope that, especially following some form of awful and horrific event like that, that they would take a step back, take a pause, and then, even better, leave. We have not seen that," he said.
Frey and O'Hara both said they are concerned ICE's continued crackdown could result in further violence.
"That's what keeps me up at night, and I want to point out the juxtaposition, the difference between how our Minneapolis police officers are conducting themselves — short on numbers, they are incredibly tired — and they're still doing an exceptional job, and how different that is from the way that these ICE agents and federal agencies are conducting themselves," Frey said.
"The responsibility that police leadership has for the men and women of our department, as well as the larger community whenever something significant critical happens, is to take a look at the situation from an objective standpoint and say, 'OK, are we contributing to the problem, or ... are we employing practices or methods that are unjustifiably placing the men and women who work for us, as well as the community, unjustifiably at risk without actually having a public safety benefit?'" O'Hara added.
O'Hara also criticized the ICE agent for holding his cell phone and firearm at the same time.
"I think it's very unsafe to be holding a cell phone, concentrating on the cell phone, while with one hand, your weapon is completely out of its holster, and quite frankly, able to be grabbed if it actually is a dangerous situation with multiple people on the scene," O'Hara said. "At best, what we are seeing here are very, very questionable tactics."
He added that shooting into a vehicle can pose danger not only to the people inside it, but also to other law enforcement and people from the community.
"We're not supposed to be acting like it's OK for cops to unnecessarily be placing themselves in the pathway of a car without trying to have an avenue of escape, to get out of the way," O'Hara said.
Just hours after the shooting, Frey demanded federal forces withdraw from the city.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Good's interaction with ICE agents as "an act of domestic terrorism," a narrative which Frey called "bull***t."
"They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust," he said.
Frey has also repeatedly stated that state authorities should be included in the investigation into the fatal shooting. On Thursday, the Minnesota agency tasked with investigating the killing withdrew after the FBI removed its access to case materials, scene evidence and investigative interviews.
"The FBI seems to be hiding from the evidence so that they want anybody that might disagree with them out of the scenario entirely," Frey said on Sunday.
Noem fired back during an interview with CNN, criticizing the mayor and others for not assisting ICE operations.
"We do work with locals when they work with us," Noem said.
Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis and around the country on Saturday to protest Good's killing, as well as the shooting of two people in Portland, Oregon.
Frey has stressed that most protests around the city in the last several days have been peaceful, but warned that those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested.
More than 2,000 federal agents arrived in Minnesota within the last week – the largest deployment of its kind under the Trump administration.