MINNEAPOLIS — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed the fatal Minneapolis shooting by a federal immigration agent while making a public appearance in Texas on Wednesday.

In the hours after the shooting that left a 37-year-old woman dead, Noem characterized the incident as an officer’s act of self-defense against “domestic terrorism.” Bystanders quickly disputed the account.

Here is Noem’s statement about the shooting in full:

“It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened was our ICE officers were out on an 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, is that she was hit and is deceased.

“We’re continuing to gather more information, but this goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day. These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We’re working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such. We will continue to protect our ICE officers and in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies as well.

“You’ve seen me in the last couple of days deploy over 2,000 more officers to the Minneapolis area, and in the last two days we’ve arrested hundreds and hundreds of dangerous criminals. Not just fraudsters, who stole from the American people billions of dollars and put it in their pockets and enriched their friends from overseas and themselves, but also individuals who committed acts of murder and rape and trafficking and drug exploitation and child exploitation.

“So we’re going to continue to do our work and I want to remind everybody that the act like we saw today, of using a vehicle to try to kill an officer and his colleagues and the other people around him is something that every politician, every elected official, everyone in this country, should be able to rally around and say that it is wrong and that sanctuary cities and sanctuary states that protect individuals who do that should no longer be allowed. That those individuals that are in leadership positions in these sanctuary jurisdictions need to work with us to make sure that every single person that’s out there enforcing the law can be safe. But also so that all of our citizens can continue to be safe, too.

“Domestic acts of terrorism like this will not stand and I’m grateful that we have the leadership in Washington, D.C., that recognizes it. And we’ll make sure that it’s working to keep every single community safe, regardless of who’s in charge in that city. President Trump gets up every day and will work to keep people safe, whether they’re in a red state or a blue state, or in a city that has a Republican mayor or a (city) that has a Democratic mayor. He’s going to fight for every single American to make sure they live in a safe community and can raise their kids without fear."

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