After bluntly telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to "get the f*ck out of Minneapolis," Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday night that they should leave the city following the fatal shooting of a motorist who allegedly tried to run over federal agents.
Frey's comments on CNN came after a news conference earlier in the day addressing the shooting of Renee Good, 37, during an ICE operation that involved the deployment of about 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis.
"To ICE, get the f*ck out of Minneapolis," Frey, a Democrat, said during the news conference. "We do not want you here.
"Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite."
Appearing later on CNN, Frey struck a more measured tone while still urging residents to oppose the federal presence through peaceful means.
"My message to our community is that this is our moment, to stand up and do the right thing," he said.
"You've got this federal government that is going to show up with hate. We're going to show up with love.
"You got this federal administration that is going to come in to try to sow anger and chaos. We're going to show up with peace," Frey said.
"We're going to do this right. We're going to be our best versions of ourselves.
"This federal government wants to have an excuse to militarize Minneapolis and bring additional occupation to our city. We won't let them," he said. "We're going to do the right thing. We're going to be filled with hope."
"We're going to get justice, and we're going to make sure that we're doing right — not just by Minneapolis, but we're going to be an example for other cities throughout the country to follow," Frey said.
He acknowledged that emotions were running high following the incident but warned residents not to escalate tensions in a way that could lead to a larger federal deployment.
"People are angry. I get it," Frey said. "If you can't tell, I'm angry. But let's not take the bait.
"They want residents of Minneapolis. They want me to make some sort of mistake in their mind that would authorize — at least in their mind — a deployment of a whole lot more troops."
"We know how devastating that would be to our community. We know how dangerous that would be to safety in our city."
Frey said they should stare down the hate. "And we all recognize — for those of us that care deeply about our immigrant community, and I do — having deployment of additional troops is not the right route at this moment or any moment here. And so what we are going to do is meet that hate with a whole lot of love," Frey said.
"We're going to do the right thing in Minneapolis. We're going to, of course, speak out; of course, express First Amendment rights.
"We're going to do that peacefully. And I have a really good feeling that we are united in fine fashion to get this done correctly."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday night that although any death is a "tragedy," the shooting was justified.
"Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation," Noem said during a news conference in Minneapolis.
Noem said the woman who was killed had been blocking officers with her vehicle, harassing them throughout the day, and "attempted to run a law enforcement officer over" before she was shot.
"We'll let the FBI continue the investigation to get it resolved," Noem said, adding that the officer struck by the vehicle was taken to a hospital and later released.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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