Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill Tuesday over her department's immigration crackdown. One big theme: Multiple senators criticized her over the shooting deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, but Noem declined to apologize for the characterization of them as domestic terrorists, reports the Hill.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar: "One of the most hurtful things they could ever imagine was said by you about their son," Klobuchar said, referring to the parents of Pretti. The Minnesota Democrat accused Noem of making the claim "without any evidence."
- Noem: "Ma'am, I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said it appeared to be an incident of domestic terrorism," Noem said in her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- Klobuchar: "I think the parents saw it for what it was."
Pressed by both Democrats and Republicans on the issue, Noem said her comments were based on real-time accounts from agents at the scene. "I was getting reports from the ground," she said, describing a "chaotic" situation but stopping short of acknowledging any error. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin scoffed: "You believe calling the victims of violence 'domestic terrorists' is a way to calm the scene?" he asked. Noem did offer her condolences to both families, but declined to make apologies when given the opportunity, per USA Today.
Noem's account clashed with earlier testimony from the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, and another agency chief, who told senators they never gave her any assessment that Good or Pretti were domestic terrorists and said they had seen no evidence to support that claim, reports the New York Times. "What we've seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem," said GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. "What we've seen is innocent people getting detained that it turns out are American citizens."
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