John Sandweg, former acting ICE director during Barack Obama’s presidency, has expressed concerns about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s statement regarding the ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
An ICE agent killed a woman, Renee Nicole Good, and Noem called it a fitting response to an act of “domestic terrorism.” Noem and President Donald Trump have said the agent acted in self-defense. Noem also revealed that the agent was taken to the hospital after Good allegedly used her vehicle to attack the agent.
Noem further claimed that people are being trained to attack ICE agents and that the number of attacks has increased over the past few months. Sandweg told CNN, “I find that to be an incredibly irresponsible statement.” He added that the department did not conduct an investigation and rushed to a conclusion.
“When you’re putting officers on the street, where you’ve lowered the standards and you’ve shortened the training, you increase dramatically the risk of incidents like this,” John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration, tells @IAmAmnaNawaz. pic.twitter.com/IsCA0nHTm0
— PBS News (@NewsHour) January 8, 2026
He added that the initial information might be wrong and that it is important to conduct an investigation to determine what actually happened. He said, “There is no way that you can make those conclusions that this was an act of domestic terrorism, that this woman was targeting ICE agents.
There’s no way that you can make those judgments at this time, given the absolute dearth of information that’s available, even to the secretary of DHS.”
He also said Noem was doing a disservice to Good’s family. According to him, failing to properly investigate the incident also undermines the agency’s credibility. He added that officials politicized the incident, noting that “not everything is political.”
NEW: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on ICE-involved shooting in Minnesota:”Our ICE officers were out in an enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them,… pic.twitter.com/mZon1xZQG8
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 7, 2026
According to a witness to the incident, Emily Heller, who appeared in a CNN interview, the ICE agents involved seemed like untrained children who shot Good, and she said the shooting of Good was not an act of self-defense, as claimed by authorities.
Heller said the ICE agent continued chasing Good’s vehicle even after being bumped by her car. After the agent shot her, he was escorted away from the scene by other ICE officers. She also alleged that medical attention was delayed, with agents claiming they had their own administrator. Ambulance and medical assistance, she said, were delayed by at least 15 minutes.
Sandweg reiterated the need for a formal investigation to establish all the facts. He also pointed to inadequate training, arguing that ICE has lowered its standards by shortening training programs, which he said has contributed to incidents like this.
