Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen recently called out Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over her harsh response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mom, Renee Nicole Good, at the hands of ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.
According to The Irish Star, Cohen addressed the tragedy during a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing and defended the slain mother of three. “She’s a victim, who is not with us anymore, she’s dead!!” he said, adding, “An officer of the United States of America killed her.”
The Congressman went on to call out the Trump administration for blaming the victim and claiming the ICE agent acted in self-defense. “It’s on video, we’ve all seen it, and we’ve seen our President, our Vice President, and Cruella Noem go after her, as if she was some type of domestic terrorist,” he stated.
“They’ve attacked her before her body is in the ground. This is the wrong picture of our government and not the way our government should be,” Cohen said, citing how the government accused Good of allegedly ramming her car into the ICE agent.
Cohen also pointed out how officials are often relieved of duty while an investigation against them remains pending, even when they act in self-defense, but in the case of Ross, “This man has not been relieved of anything.”
Cohen: She’s dead…. And we’ve seen our President, VP, and Cruella Noem go after her as if she was a domestic terrorist. pic.twitter.com/AHtzm5Jh4P
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 13, 2026
The Congressman’s heated argument saw him referring to Kristi Noem as “Cruella,” in reference to the Disney character Cruella de Vil, a woman who kidnaps 15 puppies to turn them into fur coats.
While Cohen did not explain why he decided on the nickname, it appears to highlight Noem controversially admitting to killing her 14-month-old puppy. The DHS security wrote about the slaying in her 2022 memoir, sparking mass outrage.
Noem claimed that her dog, Cricket, was “dangerous” and “untrainable” before revealing that she took her to a gravel pit and shot her dead. “It was not a pleasant job. But it had to be done,” she wrote.
Despite the criticism, Kristi Noem claimed that she decided to write the passage to highlight her ability to make difficult decisions. One may note that before being tagged “Cruella,” the DHS Secretary already earned the nickname “ICE Barbie” from her critics.
WATCH — @Sec_Noem: “It was an act of domestic terrorism.” 🤥
Yes, by ICE.
They lie so terrifyingly easily, even when there’s video. pic.twitter.com/RUcLkvvzlN
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 7, 2026
Meanwhile, Kristi Noem has also sparked criticism for her response to Renee Nicole Good’s shooting death. Hours after her demise, the DHS Secretary labelled Good’s actions as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
She doubled down on her claims during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, saying, “[ICE] were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.”
When Tapper contradicted Kristi Noem’s account, saying, “That’s not what happened. We all saw what happened,” she argued. “It absolutely is what happened. [She] blocked the road for a long time, and was yelling at them and impeding a federal law enforcement investigation.”
