Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Department of Justice is not investigating the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs officer in Minneapolis.
He also accused Democrats of peddling falsehoods about ICE’s enforcement effort in Minnesota and of urging protesters to break the law by interfering with the operation.
“We don’t just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody or putting his life in danger,” Mr. Blanche said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The Department of Justice doesn’t just stand up and investigate because some Congressman thinks we should, because some Governor thinks that we should, we investigate when it’s appropriate to investigate, and that is not the case here.”
“We are not going to bow to pressure from the media, bow of pressure from politicians, and do something that we never do — not under this administration, not under the last administration,” he said.
At the same time, the department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, have impeded immigration enforcement through their public statements.
“You saw the governor and the mayor actively encouraging criminals to go out on the street and impede ICE — that is not allowed under our law,” Mr. Blanche said. “No matter who you are, whether you’re a governor, a mayor, or somebody out there on the streets assaulting ice, you cannot, under federal law, you cannot impede a federal officer doing their job, and that’s what we’re looking at.”
He refused to elaborate.
Mr. Frey has said the administration is trying to intimidate him and other local officials.
And Mr. Walz has said the probe is the latest example of the Trump administration weaponizing the Justice Department, citing its targeting of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elisa Slotkin of Michigan.
“The only person not be investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her,” Mr. Walz recently posted on X.
Mr. Blanche said the Department of Homeland Security — like every other law enforcement agency — has its own investigative protocols for shootings.
“So, of course, there’s an investigation that’s happening, but that’s a big difference from what you have the governor insisting that this civil rights unit do and this Department of Justice do, and we are not going to do that.”
The Jan. 7 shooting of Ms. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, has inflamed the debate over President Trump’s immigration crackdown and sparked protests across the country that have included violent clashes with federal agents.
