Vice President JD Vance has announced that the ICE agent involved in the deadly shooting of a 37-year-old mother in Minnesota will not be charged with any criminal offenses.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Vance stated that the agent has ‘absolute immunity’ from criminal liability related to the incident.
“He was doing his job,” Vance explained. “The idea that Tim Walz and a bunch of radicals are going to go after and make this guy’s life miserable because he was doing the job that he was asked to do is preposterous.”
During the press conference, a journalist questioned Vance about why Minnesota’s investigation agency claimed that the US attorney’s office had ‘essentially cut off the state investigations agency’s access to the investigation,’ and sought clarification on the precedent for this restriction.
Vance promptly responded: “First of all, I wish the state officials in Minnesota would investigate why you have so many people who are using their vehicles and other means to actually interfere with a legitimate law enforcement operation.”
“The precedent here is very simple,” he continued. “You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action.”
“That’s a federal issue,” Vance commented. “That guy is protected by absolute immunity.”
Vance’s statements follow reports that Kash Patel’s FBI had limited investigative access, opting out of a joint investigation approach.
This lack of cooperation has prompted state authorities to express concerns about their inability to obtain key evidence related to the incident which resulted in the loss of a U.S. citizen’s life.
Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, stated that the U.S. attorney’s office had excluded them from participating in the investigation. He mentioned: “The investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.”
Renee Nicole Good, aged 37, was shot and killed in a confrontation with immigration enforcement officials.
Although the specifics of the incident remain uncertain, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that the woman ‘weaponized her vehicle’ and referred to the incident as an ‘act of domestic terrorism’—a stance also expressed by President Trump.
However, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disagreed with this perspective, asserting that the ICE officer acted ‘recklessly’ and dismissed federal claims of self-defense.
An investigation into the matter is currently ongoing.