Minn. Rep. Bennett to Newsmax: Minneapolis ICE Shooting 'Entirely Preventable'

The shooting death of a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman on Wednesday was "entirely preventable" and happened because of escalating tensions caused by political rhetoric and local policies, Minnesota GOP state Rep. Peggy Bennett told Newsmax on Thursday.

"This is all incredibly sad," said Bennett, also a gubernatorial candidate, on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Early." "We don't want anyone killed."

However, Bennett said the climate surrounding law enforcement has worsened, pointing to "the rhetoric and the political violence that's happening right now in our state and in our country."

Renee Good, 37, was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an operation involving the deployment of about 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis.

The Department of Homeland Security has alleged that she was killed after attempting to hit a federal agent with her vehicle.

Bennett told Newsmax that the shooting "should never have happened" and criticized language she said has been used to describe immigration officers.

"We can't be calling names like ICE Gestapo, and this is a war, because these are the kinds of things that happen," said Bennett.

She also blamed local governance, saying that "sanctuary cities like Minneapolis have actually created this powder-keg type of situation."

Bennett further objected to remarks from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calling for ICE to leave the city.

"Absolutely unacceptable," Bennett said of Frey's message.

"The temperature is so high already, you can't fan the flames like that and then expect nothing to happen," she said.

Democrat leaders and policies bear responsibility for the heightened conflict over immigration enforcement, she contended.

"It's their policies that have created this powder keg here," Bennett said.

She said local jurisdictions should cooperate with federal authorities by holding certain offenders for pickup rather than forcing ICE operations into neighborhoods.

"Instead of working with ICE and allowing law enforcement to take in these criminal aliens who are here illegally, and they're criminals, they're murderers, they're rapists, and more, they should be holding them for ICE to come to the jails and pick up," Bennett said.

She added that if that happened, "ICE wouldn't have to go out into the neighborhoods," and tensions would be reduced.

In addition to the Minneapolis incident, Bennett addressed allegations of fraud in Minnesota programs, after a U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing that included discussion of the scope of fraud and enforcement options.

Bennett said fraud concerns have circulated for years, and she referenced prior warnings from state oversight officials.

"As Republicans, we had a compilation of 50 bills that were all fraud-prevention types of bills from both sides of the aisle, created a package, and we were thwarted and blocked and it was not allowed to go through," Bennett said.

Bennett said enforcement momentum has increased as investigators develop stronger cases, and she credited federal involvement while faulting state leadership for a muted response.

"Now that solid evidence is coming out, and thank goodness we've got the FBI and others working on this and helping," she said, adding that action "certainly isn't happening here with our own attorney general in Minnesota and with our governor, who are basically ignoring this."

Bennett said that if elected, she would push for program changes and stronger oversight. She said some systems are structured in ways that invite abuse.

"The core problem is these programs that we have in Minnesota are actually designed to allow fraud," she said, adding, "They're designed to leave the bank vault wide open for criminals to come in and take our money."

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