President Trump wanted to run the tape.
Just hours after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Mr. Trump told a group of New York Times reporters that the woman was at fault because she had tried to “run over” the officer.
We were in the Oval Office for an interview with the president, and the unfolding situation in Minneapolis was high on our list of questions. As soon as we started asking him about the incident, he said: “I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either.”
When we pressed Mr. Trump on his conclusion that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, tried to run over the agent, he asked an aide to pull up the video on a laptop in an effort to prove his point.
“That was a vicious situation that took place,” Mr. Trump said, apparently referring to what federal officials have said was an effort by Ms. Good to run down an ICE agent.
The exchange was a glimpse into Mr. Trump’s reflexive defense of what has become a sometimes violent federal crackdown on immigration, which in this case claimed the life of an American citizen who was protesting ICE’s presence in Minneapolis.
Speaking at a news conference in Minneapolis, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said that the woman was “stalking” officers, and that the agent who killed her “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues.”
But details were in dispute. State and local officials described federal accounts of the shooting with terms like “propaganda” and “garbage.”
Mr. Trump stuck to his position even as we pointed out the inconsistencies and the lack of clarity in videos circulating in social media. We asked if, in his mind, firing into a vehicle like that is acceptable.
“She behaved horribly,” Mr. Trump said. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over —”
We told the president the videos on social media were unclear.
“I’ll play the tape for you right now,” Mr. Trump said.
Trump Administration: Live Updates
Updated
- Trump withdraws the U.S. from more international organizations.
- Trump proposes a huge increase in military spending.
- Trump pulls out of the global climate treaty.
Mr. Trump’s aide Natalie Harp brought a laptop over to the Resolute Desk to show us what he said would be evidence of the woman’s wrongdoing.
Before the video began, Mr. Trump acknowledged the tragic nature of the shooting. “With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening,” he said, before pivoting to his common refrain of criticizing illegal immigration.
As a slow-motion surveillance video of the shooting played on the laptop, we told him that this angle did not appear to show an ICE officer had been run over.
“Well,” Mr. Trump said. “I — the way I look at it … ”
“It’s a terrible scene,” Mr. Trump said at the end of the video. “I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”
But did this fatal shooting mean his ICE operation had gone too far? Mr. Trump sidestepped the question, instead blaming his predecessor’s immigration policies.
Mr. Trump’s willingness to make a near-immediate conclusion about the deadly shooting appeared to be at odds with one of his senior advisers. Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, told CBS News that he would not make a judgement call on video circulating on social media of the shooting.
“Let the investigation play out,” Mr. Homan said, “and hold people accountable based on the investigation.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
The post We Pressed Trump on His Conclusion About the ICE Shooting. Here’s What He Said. appeared first on New York Times.
