Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the woman shot and killed by an ICE officer on Wednesday in Minneapolis died in "a tragedy of her own making."
Vance said the officer acted in justified self-defense and deserved a "debt of gratitude" for his actions. He said the officer was protected in his actions by "absolute immunity."
“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” the vice president said. “He’s been assaulted. He’s been attacked. He’s been injured because of it.”
Vance said Renee Good had been driven by left-wing influences to interfere with law enforcement.
He suggested she had attempted to strike the officer with her vehicle before the officer shot her.
“What you see is what you get in this case,” Vance said Thursday. “I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it is a tragedy of her own making.”
An ICE officer shot and killed Good on Wednesday in a residential neighborhood in Minneapolis while she was inside her vehicle.
Following the shooting, federal authorities blocked Minnesota investigators from accessing evidence, drawing criticism from local officials.
"I think it's clear to everyone, as they saw this, that it feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said. "It feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome."
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The shooting comes as federal authorities surge personnel and resources to Minnesota, investigating what the Trump administration alleges is an increase in fraudulent activity among social services.
Vance on Thursday addressed those allegations, saying the administration will empower a new assistant attorney general who will undertake fraud investigations nationwide.
"The investigation in some ways has already been ramping up into the anti-fraud element for at least a few weeks," Vance said. "What we're trying to do is supercharging and make sure there's a designated person within the Department of Justice completely controls that particular focus."
