Noem defends her portrayal of killed Minneapolis protesters as
agitators, in her Senate hearing
[March 04, 2026] By
REBECCA SANTANA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended her
department's immigration enforcement tactics in front of a Senate
committee on Tuesday and pushed back against criticism from Democrats
who say she wrongly disparaged two protesters killed by federal officers
in Minneapolis earlier this year.
It was Noem’s first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths
of the two protesters galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump
administration is executing its mass deportation agenda, a centerpiece
policy of President Donald Trump's second term. At the time, Noem
portrayed the protesters, two U.S. citizens, as agitators, although
accounts from local officials and bystander video contradicted
assertions from her and other administration officials.
In one exchange, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina
called her leadership a “disaster” and skewered her handling of the
immigration crackdown and her management of emergency response.
In the hearing, which stretched nearly five hours, Noem defended her
agency’s treatment of immigrants caught up in enforcement activities,
and blamed activists and others for attacks against officers.
“I want to address the dangerous environment that our ICE officers face
on the streets today," Noem said. “They are facing a serious and
escalating threat as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of
their heroic work and rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement.”
Since the deaths in Minneapolis, the administration has taken steps
meant to tone down tensions, including drawing down the operation there.
But the administration has continued pressing restrictions against both
legal and illegal immigration, has been buying up warehouses for
immigration detention and persisting in federal enforcement in areas
around the country. Noem said about 650 investigators remain in
Minnesota as part of a broader fraud probe.
The immigration tactics of Noem's department have triggered a clash in
Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a
spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash
for the Republican administration’s mass deportation policy. Noem called
the partial shutdown “reckless” and blamed Democrats for a move she said
put national security at risk.
Her appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes after a
weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a
possible act of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating
conflict in Iran could have repercussions for security in the U.S.
Noem blames chaotic situation for her characterization of killed
protesters
In what was initially billed as an effort to root out fraud in
Minnesota, Homeland Security sent hundreds of officers from Immigration
and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state.
They were met by protesters who organized marches, patrolled
neighborhoods for ICE activity with whistles and ferried food to
immigrants too afraid to leave their homes.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE
officer on Jan. 7, setting off intense protests demanding an end to the
operation. Then on Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers
opened fire on another Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been
filming enforcement operations.
Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem,
whose initial comments portrayed both Good and Pretti as the aggressors,
has come under withering criticism by Democrats and some Republicans,
who have called for her to resign.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight
hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in
Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Democrats repeatedly questioned Noem about her initial comments and
called on her to apologize.
“You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as, quote,
domestic terrorists,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top
Democrat on the committee. “We have ample video evidence and
eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements caused
immeasurable pain to these families.”
Noem said she was relying on information from people on the scene
and blamed “violent protesters” for contributing to the chaos
officers encountered.
“I was getting reports from the ground from agents at the scene, and
I would say that it was a chaotic scene,” she said.
After public outrage over the deaths, Trump sent border czar Tom
Homan to Minneapolis to take control of operations. Homan has since
announced a drawdown of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent
to Minnesota to carry out what had been dubbed Operation Metro
Surge, although he’s been adamant that the president’s mass
deportation agenda will continue.
Noem also faced some Republican criticism
Republicans largely kept the focus on the large numbers of migrants
who came into the country under former President Joe Biden,
portraying Noem as the leader of a cleanup effort of the former
administration’s mess.
But she did come under some harsh questioning by members of her own
party. Tillis, who called on Noem to resign following the shootings
in Minneapolis, criticized her for erroneously arresting American
citizens, for failures in her disaster recovery agency and for how
she shot her own dog.
“What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Miss Noem, a
disaster," Tillis said. “What we’ve seen is innocent people getting
detained that turn out are American citizens.”
Tillis, who has already announced that he is not running for another
term., added: “We’re beginning to get the American people to think
that deporting people is wrong. It’s the exact opposite. The way
you’re going about deporting them is wrong." .
Another Republican, Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, also pushed
her to explain why her department paid more than $200 million for an
ad campaign she appeared in last year encouraging migrants to leave
the country voluntarily and questioned whether Trump knew about the
price tag ahead of time.
Noem, who is set to appear Wednesday in front of a House committee,
defended those ads, saying they were effective and went through the
regular department bidding process.
“Well, they were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy said.
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