From the desk of Rich Stephens
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
What you are about to hear is satire. The purpose is to shine light on partisanship that never wastes a crisis. I mock politicians and officials not to make you laugh. Rather, to give you the opportunity to hear their words from another voice. Press conferences and video of the incident are posted on The Cold Take dot Com
As you have likely heard, on Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Within a few hours, officials for both Republicans and Democrats spoke about the event. These are their exact words.
Walz : We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt. Just yesterday, I said exactly that. What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines, and conflict. It’s governing by reality TV. And today that recklessness cost someone their life.
Noem : “It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened is our ice officers were out in enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him and my understanding is that she was hit and is deceased.”
Frey: “But what we do know is that a 37 year-old woman is dead and that she was shot by ICE. We’ve dreaded this moment since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis. Not only is this a concern that we’ve had internally, we’ve been talking about it. They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They’re ripping families apart. They’re sewing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people. So they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
Noem : “…when a mob of agitators that were harassing them all day began blocking them in, shouting at them, and impeding law enforcement operations, ICE officers and agents approached the vehicle of the individual in question, who was blocking the officers in with her vehicle, and she had been stalking and impeding their work all throughout the day. ICE agents repeatedly ordered her to get out of the car and to stop obstructing law enforcement, but she refused to obey their commands. She then proceeded to weaponize her vehicle and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over it. This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism. The ICE officer fearing for his life and the other officers around him and the safety of the public fired defensive shots.”
Frey: “There’s little I can say again that’ll make this situation better. But I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for ICE. To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. 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. People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart. Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy are being terrorized. And now somebody is dead. That’s on you. And it’s also on you to leave. It’s on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury is not done.”
Noem : “This city has burned before and your mayor and your governor let it happen. President Trump is not going to let that happen. He and our federal law enforcement officers are here to bring peace and to bring public safety and to ensure that criminal activity is stopped and that people who perpetuate it will face consequences. Since we have been here in recent weeks, we have arrested over 1,500 criminals off of the streets.
Frey: “So, obviously, and I I have to always lead with this caveat because it is true, an investigation still does need to be conducted. I had my perception of what took place based on the vehicle and the vehicle’s positioning. does not appear that the individual is trying to ram anybody.”
Walz : And from here on, I have a very simple
message. We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Christy Gnome, you’ve done enough. There’s nothing more important than Minnesotans safety. I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National
Guard. We have soldiers in training and
prepared to be deployed if necessary.
Vance : “I’m just going to read it. Outrage after ICE officer kills US citizen in Minneapolis. Well, that’s one way to put it. And that is the way that many people in the corporate media have put this attack over the last 24 hours. And I say attack very very intentionally because this was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people. The way that the media by and large has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day. What that headline leaves out is the fact that that very ice officer nearly had his life ended, dragged by a car 6 months ago, 33 stitches in his leg. So, you think maybe he’s a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him with an automobile? What that headline leaves out is that that woman was there to interfere with a legitimate law enforcement operation in the United States of America. What that headline leaves out is that that woman is part of a broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job. If the media wants to tell the truth, they ought to tell the truth that a group of left-wing radicals have been working tirelessly, sometimes using domestic terror techniques to try to make it impossible for the president of the United States to do what the American people elected him to do, which is enforce our immigration laws. The president stands with ICE. I stand with ICE.”
Walz : All of you saw video in your eyes. We have a chaotic situation caused by the largest deployment in American history of federal agents into a community with no communication to locals. We had a chaotic situation where an individual is
in their car shot and killed.
Walz : I don’t know, I hope maybe we’re at their McCarthy moment. Do you have no decency? Do you have no decency? We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever. And and I don’t I don’t want to be right about this, but I said if they do this, they’re going to create a chaotic
situation where someone innocent is going to get killed. And they did it. And and now we hear more political rhetoric. Enough. Enough is enough.
Did ICE murder Renee Good? Was she a domestic terrorist? Are ICE operations reckless and dangerous? I can’t answer these questions. Our stated purpose is to tell you what happened and let you decide what to think about it. My personal desire is for politicians, officials and leaders to all take one step towards one another. That would at least bring the country two steps closer together. If you take anything away from this, take away a moment of caution and hesitation before judging what you read or see. I would like it if you shared this video, but I would like it even more if you shared the message.
I’ll leave you with the version of this story we wanted to report:
On Wednesday, January 7, at 10:25am central, an ICE agent fatally shot a protester in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Several social media videos show the event, which unfolded quickly. The woman was parked sideways in the road. ICE agents ordered her out of her car, but she reversed, then drove forward. Video shows that she struck an agent who was moving from the passenger side to the driver side of her vehicle. That agent fired 3 shots, striking the driver. While bystanders chided ICE and accused them of murder, Homeland Security Secretary Noem called the shooting defensive. The FBI is investigating and we will bring you updates when they are available.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take
Kristi Noem Full Press Conference
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Shooting Video Angle 1 (Alternate X Post)
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