Stephen A. Smith Insists ICE Agent Was ‘Completely Justified’ in Fatal Shooting in Minneapolis — But Still Thinks He Could Have Avoided It

Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday argued the ICE agent was well within his rights to shoot and kill 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Good’s death at the hands of federal law enforcement has become the subject of great debate across the country. In a video capturing the exchange, Good was blocking the road while agents were in the middle of immigration enforcement. When they got out of the car and tried to get into hers, Good attempted to flee the scene and nearly hit one of the agents. In response, that agent shot her multiple times.

Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security has accused Good of “weaponizing” her vehicle and insisted she attempted to run over the agent. DHS even called it an “act of domestic terrorism.” Critics, however, have argued that Good was only trying to leave the scene of the incident after agents tried to open the car door.

On Wednesday’s episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A., Smith attempted to see both sides of the argument:

I saw the video on numerous occasions and, seeing what transpired, from a lawful perspective as it pertains to a law enforcement official, don’t expect him to be prosecuted. He was completely justified. From a humanitarian perspective, however, why did you have to do that? If you could move out the way, that means you could have shot the tires. That means you could have got her a few feet away after you shot the tires; and if you were unsuccessful in doing that, you could have got her down the road. You didn’t have to do that. She wasn’t driving down the road, coming at you 90 miles an hour. She was parked in the middle of the street, and rather than get out the car, she wrongfully tried to drive off and wrongfully disregarded law enforcement official — which is exactly what ICE is — and as a result, lost her life because of it.

— —

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!