Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

“It should be terrifying to every American how Noem lies,” said one critic. “She doesn’t sweat or move uncomfortably. She just doesn’t care. This is what Trump has created. An environment where you only get in trouble if you don’t lie.”

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sat for a live interview with CNN‘s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning about the killing of Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent last week and lied straight through her teeth to the American public about what happened.

Since Good was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross on Wednesday, members of the Trump administration have consistently tried to portray the shooting as justified despite indisputable video evidence contradicting their false claims and narratives.

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Noem, who released her first statement on the shooting within three hours of Good’s killing, has joined Vice President JD Vance as the leading liars and propagandists—with plenty of help from people like Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security, and Border Czar Tom Homan—within the Trump administration.

In her exchange with Tapper, who confronted Noem over the blatant chasm between her claims about what happened—she called Good a “domestic terrorist” who “attacked” federal agents—and what anyone with two good eyes who watches the variety of videos made public of the shooting can plainly see for themselves.

Various angles of the video, including audio from Good’s final moments, have shown that she was not “yelling” at officers or “attacking” them in any way. Video shows several vehicles driving around her car in the minutes prior to the shooting. Good has a visible smile on her face when she says, directly to Ross as he circles her car, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Detailed analyses of the footage shows Ross could just as easily have stepped aside—without drawing and firing his weapon—in order to dodge the moving car, which he did—even with firing the fatal shots—without injury or harm to others.

Asked by Tapper why she did not wait for the full facts before speaking out publicly to demonize Good and defend the officer, Noem falsely claimed that “everything that I’ve said has been proven to be factual, and the truth.”

That’s a lie.

“With all due respect,” Tapper responded, “the first thing you said was not what happened.”

“It is absolutely what happened,” Noem said, lying once again about her initial comments and their relationship to what factually transpired.

“It should be terrifying to every American how Noem lies,” said James Abrenio, a criminal defense attorney, in a social media post on Sunday. “She doesn’t sweat or move uncomfortably. She just doesn’t care. This is what Trump has created. An environment where you only get in trouble if you don’t lie. Even about an officer shooting a woman in the face on video.”

Noem, in the interview, goes on to claim that Good’s behavior fits the textbook definition of “domestic terrorism,” despite scores of law enforcement and civil liberties experts who have reviewed the video saying that Ross’ behavior betrayed basic police training about how to deal with a routine traffic stop or de-escalate a situation involving a motor vehicle in a roadway.

When Tapper tries to pin Noem down, asking her to explain what she thinks Good was trying to do when she moved her car, the secretary deflects by saying the real “question” should be why are people—in this case a broadcast journalist—“arguing with the president who is trying to keep people safe?”

Noem’s overt gaslighting—telling the public something objectively contrary to available facts—has become part and parcel of the Trump administration’s Orwellian approach in the president’s second term.

“Kristi Noem is a stone-cold liar who has zero credibility,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the minority leader in the House, on Friday in reaction to her earlier comments about the case. “There is nothing to suggest the shooting of an unarmed woman in Minneapolis was justified. This heinous killing must be criminally investigated to the full extent of the law.”

On Friday, The Guardian documented a litany of false claims made Noem, Trump, McLaughlin, and others, comparing them against what is factually known based on video evidence and eye-witness accounts:

The claim

“ … rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them – an act of domestic terrorism” – post on X by the Department of Homeland Security.

The reality

There is simply no evidence that Good was “a violent rioter” or “domestic terrorist”. No riot was taking place before her encounter with the ICE agents, and the department could not yet have been certain of her identity at 12.43pm, the time the message was posted. There is no evidence that Good – a poet and mother – was a terrorist.

The claim

“ … the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer” – post on Truth Social by Donald Trump.

The reality

Video of the incident shows that Good was not “disorderly”, and had reversed her car and allowed at least one ICE vehicle to pass before other agents confronted her. A separate video clearly shows that the officer who fired the fatal shots walked up to the front of Good’s car, which was turning away from him as it began to move forward, and he remained on his feet as the vehicle passed him.

The claim

“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots … The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries” – Tricia McLaughlin, homeland security assistant secretary, in a post on X.

The reality

The officer who killed Good was not in the pathway of her car when he began firing, analysis of the video shows. Two other officers were beside the car, and no members of the public were seen to be in harm’s way. There is no evidence that any ICE officer was injured.

According to The Atlantic‘s Adam Serwer, such “blatant lies” by the administration in the wake of Good’s killing serve various purposes:

They perpetuate the false narrative that federal agents are in constant peril and therefore justified in using lethal force at the slightest hint of danger. They assure federal agents that they can harm or even kill American citizens with impunity, and warn those who might be moved to protest Trump’s immigration policies of the same thing. Perhaps most grim, they communicate to the public that if you happen to be killed by a federal agent, your government will bear false witness to the world that you were a terrorist.

Following the DHS secretary’s latest comments on Sunday, Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also speaking on Tapper’s show, said Noem “needs to resign or be impeached.”

Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

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