By Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register
‘If you don’t get in the way of ICE agents, it won’t be a problem for you,’ the Iowa Congress member and Senate hopeful said. ‘And I always stand with and support our law enforcement.’
The shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, happened during an immigration enforcement action on Jan. 7.
Video of the incident circulating online showed multiple law enforcement officers approaching a dark red vehicle, and an individual saying “get out of the (expletive) car.”
The SUV initially reversed before driving forward, and an ICE agent standing near the front of the vehicle on the driver’s side shot into it three times. The car immediately crashed into another parked vehicle as onlookers screamed and shouted.
Federal authorities have said the agent acted in self-defense, while city and state leaders have called the shooting an unjustified attack.
Hinson, who represents northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, spoke with reporters on a phone call Jan. 9.
“This woman interfered with an ICE agent who was doing his job,” Hinson said. “She was accelerating toward him and that’s clear.”
Hinson said “I stand with ICE” and criticized what she called “shameful” rhetoric from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both Democrats. Walz has called the assertion that the ICE agent acted in self-defense “propaganda” and Frey called it “bull—-.”
“So we’ve seen this unhinged rhetoric against our law enforcement, much of it fueled by the media, and it has encouraged Americans to ignore the laws that we have on the books,” Hinson said. “If you don’t get in the way of ICE agents, it won’t be a problem for you. And I always stand with and support our law enforcement.”
The shooting has prompted protests and vigils for Good around the country, including in several Iowa cities.
Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel
Hinson is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate this year to succeed U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who opted not to run for reelection.
Ernst told Fox News Radio on Jan. 7 the ICE agents were there doing their job.
“It’s awful no matter what way you look at it and these agents, they are simply doing their job. they are law enforcement agents,” Ernst said. “The citizens should allow them to do their job. Those agents are following the law, they’re following orders and if everybody would just stay peaceful and calm and allow them to execute their lawful orders, we wouldn’t see situations like this.”
She said she wouldn’t offer an opinion on whether the shooting was justified before investigators had finished looking into it.
“They will study it, they will understand the different perspectives and the different timing,” she said. “I don’t want to make a judgment call today, but I would simply say that again these are officers following lawful orders and when you do have agitators or others that might be trying to harm ICE agents then it creates a whole situation like what we see today.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, speaking with reporters, also said the ICE agents were enforcing the law.
“We ought to wait until the FBI gets done with this investigation before I make a decision that something wrong was done,” Grassley told Radio Iowa. “There is wrong done by law enforcement from time to time, but you can’t stop a whole law enforcement activity in Minneapolis because of this one incident.”
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