MS NOW anchor Ari Melber cut away from Kristi Noem’s press conference on Wednesday to note that her account of an ICE officer killing a woman didn’t match the video.
On The Beat, Melber aired Noem’s claims—thus far unsupported by the available evidence—that the agent feared for his life and fired in self-defense, killing 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good. He cut away once Noem began talking more about crime and immigration during Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s tenure.
“Since Governor Walz has been in charge of Minnesota, we have seen homicides go up by over 50 percent. That’s also during Mayor Frey’s tenure, as well. Since President Trump took office, Governor Walz has released over 470 violent criminals back onto the streets here in Minneapolis,” Noem, 54, said.
“[Noem] made several assertions there, including saying that a mob was blocking the officers in, and that they viewed this as an effort to weaponize and run over the officer,” Melber, 45, began. “The video, which we played several times tonight, does not show the car going at the officer but rather making the turn to the right.”
“She said they view this as an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm…which is the only legal justification for using that kind of force,” Melber continued. “The ICE agent shot this individual in the face, killing her. And then she discussed how they view this as domestic terror attacks.”
The anchor then noted that there is “a wide gap between the available evidence and what local officials are saying, including one we heard tonight, and Kristi Noem’s claims on behalf of the Trump administration.”
Frey and Minnesota Walz have both rejected Noem’s account, with Walz calling DHS a “propaganda machine.”
Melber, whose network has previously limited airing Donald Trump and certain administration officials live given the low news value and the president’s propensity for lying, said his team would be keeping an eye on the rest of Noem’s press conference in case something does come up.
“We do have people monitoring that in case there is other news,” he said.
MS NOW and DHS have been contacted for comment.
CNN did not take Noem live in the 6 p.m. hour, but Fox News aired the entirety of her nearly 15-minute press conference.
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