Anger erupts in Congress over Minneapolis ICE shooting
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Rep. Angie Craig at the U.S. Capitol last May. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
An ICE officer's fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday ignited tensions on Capitol Hill, with Democrats raging about both the shooting itself and their Republican colleagues' reactions to it.
Why it matters: The shooting led to at least one heated exchange on the House floor, with Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-Minn.) laying into Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
- A clip of the exchange shared with Axios shows the two lawmakers engaged in a roughly 40-second-long shouting match, with Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) eventually ushering Craig away.
- Craig told Emmer — who defended the ICE officers in the wake of the shooting — that Republicans' political stunts in Minnesota got a woman killed, two sources briefed on the argument told Axios.
- Emmer responding by angrily telling Craig to "take a walk," the sources said.
What they're saying: Gesturing to the House chamber during an interview Wednesday, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told Axios "certainly everyone in that room, at least on my side, is livid at what happened to this woman."
- She added: "Not just a resident of Minnesota, a U.S. citizen ... a 37-year-old white woman, was shot, and then they lied about it."
- Ramirez is one of several Democrats who have floated the threat of a government shutdown as a lever to try to constrain funding for ICE and try to force policy changes at the agency.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said: "They're disappearing people off the street, and this has nothing to do with citizenship at all, increasingly, in who they're going after."
What's next: Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) announced Wednesday that she plans to introduce articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in response to the incident.
- "Secretary Kristi Noem is an incompetent leader, a disgrace to our democracy, and I am impeaching her for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing," Kelly said in a statement.
- "It's one thing to be incompetent and dangerous, but it's impeachable to break the rule of law," she added. "I told my constituents ... that I would fight against Secretary Noem's agenda. This is me fighting back."
The other side: "How silly during a serious time. As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district," a DHS spokesperson said Thursday evening.
- "We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem."
Go deeper: Dems push ICE shutdown
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from DHS spokesperson.
