This was unexpected.
A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is publicly criticizing comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following a deadly encounter involving ICE agents in Minnesota.
John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, appeared on CNN to push back against Noem’s description of a fatal shooting involving a woman in Minneapolis. The woman was killed inside her vehicle during an incident with federal immigration agents earlier this week.
Secretary Noem had stated that the woman carried out an act of “domestic terrorism,” alleging she attempted to strike ICE agents with her car. Those remarks were made shortly after the shooting, while details surrounding the incident were still emerging.
Sandweg, who led ICE from 2013 to 2014 under President Barack Obama, said the secretary’s comments went too far and were made without sufficient confirmed information.
“I find that to be an incredibly irresponsible statement,” Sandweg said during the interview. He emphasized that early reports following law-enforcement incidents are frequently incomplete or inaccurate, even at senior levels of government.
According to Sandweg, drawing conclusions about intent or labeling the incident as terrorism before investigators complete their work risks undermining public trust.
“There’s simply no way to make those determinations at this stage,” he said, adding that investigations exist to establish facts, not to support immediate political narratives.
Sandweg also warned that rushing to judgment can harm the credibility of both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
“When leaders declare certainty before all the facts are known, it politicizes what should be a careful and professional process,” he said. “That ultimately hurts everyone involved.”
Secretary Noem later addressed the shooting at a press conference, stating that ICE agents had been attempting to free a vehicle stuck in snowy conditions when a woman allegedly tried to run them over. She said an agent fired his weapon in what she described as a defensive action to protect himself and others nearby.
The Department of Homeland Security subsequently referred to the incident as a “ramming situation” in a statement, while confirming that the matter remains under active investigation.
Federal authorities have not yet released full findings, and officials say additional details will be made public once the review process is complete.
The shooting and the public disagreement over how it was characterized have renewed debate over immigration enforcement, public communication, and the importance of restraint by government leaders while investigations are still ongoing.
Sandwaeg your the blind asshole play the video really slow so your dumbass brain can comprehend what is actually happening. Even Stevie Wonder could see the ICE agent in front of the van that she tried to run over.
So get your magnifying glass and watch it over and over again until you see what really happened and then open your big mouth with apologies to all ICE Agents and any other government officials that are doing their jobs. Think you can get your head out of your ass long enough to apologize or are you just a true democrat loser that lies about everything.
This Sandweg guy sounds like he worked in this position under Obama what a coward. He has no idea what Noem knows and only CNN would dig this lowlife up and up him on the air. Under Obama ICE did pretty much nothing so never having to deal with the mess Obama and Biden created he knows nothing. Being CNN is the only one to have this guy tells me all I need to know. The only requirement to be on CNN (lowest ratings ever) is to bash Trump and anyone associated with him.