Kristi Noem Vows ‘Hundreds More’ ICE Agents Heading to Minnesota: It’s ‘Ground Zero’ for ‘Protecting Criminals’

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced “hundreds” of ICE agents are being sent to Minnesota today and tomorrow during an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News.

Their arrival comes days after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old protester Renee Good in Minneapolis; footage from the scene showed Good blocked traffic for several minutes and appeared to hit the agent with her SUV before she was shot multiple times. Her death has led to a number of anti-ICE protests and condemnation from Democratic lawmakers like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Noem told Bartiromo the shooting was “tragic,” but that ICE needs reinforcements in the aftermath.

“We’re sending more officers today and tomorrow. They’ll arrive, there’ll be hundreds more in order to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely,” Noem said. “If [protesters] conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that’s a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences.”

Those agents will arrive after Homeland Security sent 2,100 ICE and DHS officers to Minnesota earlier this month.

The secretary lamented the city and state government have been unwilling to work in “partnership” with ICE and DHS agents. But she said that is no surprise, based on what Frey and Walz said after the shooting.

Frey on Wednesday told ICE to “Get the f*ck out” of his city and said any claims the officer shot in self-defense were “bullsh*t.”

Noem said both the governor and mayor have made it clear they “put criminals and illegal aliens” above American citizens.

When Bartiromo asked why Noem was being “aggressive” in sending officers to Minnesota, Noem said it is because the state is “Ground zero for stealing taxpayer dollars and protecting criminals.”

She said that combo has forced the federal government to focus on it more, as well as “prevalent” sex and child trafficking among illegal immigrants in Minnesota.

Watch above.