Trump once again defends ICE officer who shot dead woman in Minneapolis: 'She behaved horribly'

US President Donald Trump.

• Protests erupt after ICE officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis operation
• Trump defends ICE officer, claims victim tried to run over agent
• Minnesota Governor orders investigation into the shooting for accountability

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Even as protestors gathered to demonstrate against the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by an ICE officer, President Donald Trump defended the immigration officer by saying that the victim "behaved horribly".

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot dead a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday while the federal agency was carrying out one of their "targeted operations". According to the videos being circulated on social media, the officer shot at the woman who was driving a car and trying to get away from the ICE personnel.

When asked whether firing into a vehicle in such circumstances was acceptable, Trump told The New York Times, "She behaved horribly. And then she ran him over. She didn't try to run him over."

Also Read: ‘Shot in self-defence’: Trump backs ICE after Minneapolis killing, Walz orders investigation

Trump blamed the victim, Renee Nicole Good, asserting that she had attempted to run over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

“I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either," Trump said while talking to the reporters in the Oval Office as New York Times reporters questioned him about the incident, which had already begun to spark protests in Minneapolis.

When pressed on how he reached the conclusion that the woman tried to run down an officer, Trump asked an aide to pull up video footage of the shooting on a laptop to support his claim. Before it began, he acknowledged the seriousness of what had happened, saying, "With all of it being said, no, I don't like that happening." He described the incident as violent, adding, "That was a vicious situation that took place." At the end of the video, he said, "It's a terrible scene. I think it's horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed the President’s account, saying the woman had been “stalking" officers and describing the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism" against federal agents.

Noem said the officer who fired the fatal shots “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues," and insisted that ICE and Border Patrol agents “won’t be going anywhere" despite demands from state and local leaders that federal officers leave Minnesota.

'Shot her in self-defense'

Earlier, in a post on his Truth Social handle, Trump said, "I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense."

In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE Officers were conducting "targeted operations" in Minneapolis when rioters began blocking the ICE officers and one of the "violent rioters" attempted to run over the officers in an attempt to kill them, which it called "an act of domestic terrorism."

The statement said that an ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.

Responding to the statement, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that the state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.