Below is my column on Fox.com on Democratic politicians and pundits immediately declaring that the ICE officer in Minneapolis is a murderer. There is a method to this madness for politicians such as Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) who are facing primary challenges from the far left. He and others sit like Madam Defarge, simply knitting the names of expendable officers to fuel the mob.
Here is the column:
“It was an outright murder.” Those words from Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) were echoed by Democratic leaders from coast to coast almost immediately after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, 37, as she sped toward him in a vehicle. Goldman is the Madame Defarge of American politics, the character from Tale of Two Cities who knitted as she gleefully called for the heads of aristocrats and counterrevolutionaries in the French Revolution.
Goldman has made a career of dismissing due process for his political opponents while engaging in willful blindness of the conduct of his allies. He has denied the existence of Antifa as an organization as well as claiming that he has seen no evidence of an increase in attacks on ICE officers.
He apparently needed no further proof to declare this officer a murderer: “It was an outright murder. This officer needs to not only be fired and suspended, but—based on the video—charged.”
The video does not support such a claim. Under the governing case law, the officer is allowed to use lethal force when he is facing an imminent threat to his life or the lives of fellow officers or third parties.
In this case, the officer had a fraction of a second to decide whether to fire his weapon after Good sped toward him. Good appears to have been attempting to flee the officers and flight alone is not a justification for the use of lethal force. However, when you speed toward an officer, he may treat the vehicle as a weapon and discharge his weapon in self-defense.
Goldman is fully aware that past case law supports the officer in this case. However, he is also aware that he is facing a Mamdani-supported socialist, Brad Lander, a popular local politician. Goldman is ramping up his rhetoric to appeal to the radical left from promising impeachments to calling for the prosecution of this officer. This officer is no longer a human being, he is a prop to be used for political gain. If he has to go to jail to secure a third term for Goldman, he is viewed as a small price to pay.
Others have joined the murder mantra, including Mamdani, who declared, “This morning, an ICE agent murdered a woman in Minneapolis—only the latest horror in a year full of cruelty.”
Mamdani insisted that he was going to focus on retaining existing NYPD officers rather than adding more officers. That seems unlikely as he shows that officers cannot expect him to support them if they are involved in such shootings. The mayor immediately joined the mob, dismissed the need for an investigation, and declared the officer a murderer.
In an age of rage, the loudest and angriest is king.
That was evident in the profane, unhinged diatribe of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey who immediately not only declared the officer a murderer but called claims of self-defense “bllsh*t” and told ICE “get the f–k out” of the city.
When many of us denounced his conduct, he mocked his critics by apologizing if his profanity “offended their Disney princess ears.”
Gov. Tim Walz followed suit. As his head of Public Safety insisted that they would not speculate on the outcome of the investigation, Walz stood next to him in declaring that Good was killed for no reason and portrayed ICE as terrorizing the state. Walz previously denounced ICE as “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets … being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons.” Ironically, he then added that these people have “no chance to mount a defense.” That concern apparently does not extend for Walz to members of law enforcement.
Goldman, Mamdani, Frey, and others are traffickers in rage, feeding an addiction in the hope that these mobs will propel them further in power. Law enforcement officers are simply expendable when political advantage is at stake.
Democrats showed the same cynical calculation in condemning border agents falsely accused of whipping migrants at the Texas border. Even though videotape refuted the claims, leading Democrats and the media pushed the false claim. The agents were then subject to over a year of abusive treatment before being cleared of the charge.
There is a method to his madness. As Madame Defarge assured her husband, they must ignore the cost to others because “Nothing that we do, is done in vain. I believe, with all my soul, that we shall see triumph.”
Democrats may indeed “see triumph” in rage politics. However, history has shown that today’s revolutionaries often become tomorrow’s reactionaries. Goldman is already facing a challenge from the left that he is not radical enough. Feeding a nation of rage addicts can prove a dangerous business when someone offers purer, cheaper highs.
For now, however, no one will out rage Goldman or others. They remain on a political hair-trigger to find triumph in the tragedies of our times.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the forthcoming “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
I’m sure that some reporter will ask Rep. Dan Goldman if he considers the killing of Ashli Babbitt on J6 an outright murder? She wasn’t driving a 5,000 pound weapon.
Ashli Babbit and other burglarized the U.S. Capitol building. They didn’t enter legally through metal detectors and x-ray machines like all Capitol visitors and employees are required to do.
Already inside that high security building illegally (as a criminal, not a legal visitor), Babbit and others tried to breach a more secure door illegally containing members of the Legislative Branch of the United States government.
Josh Hawkey running like a frantic little child out the building, attests to how scared Capitol Police officers for the safety of the Legislative Branch members during the coup attempt.
That’s not what happened in Minneapolis.
What a lie. 100lbs woman was zero danger to the officer. That was bad shooting.
“Burglarized”?
What crime did Ashli Babbitt intend to commit when she entered the Capitol?
Anonymous at 11:50 am – The recording played by Tucker Carlson showed the doors to the Capitol being opened by guards and hundreds of ordinary citizens being let into their main government building.
No one “burglarized” the building. The most that could be charged against the people who earlier broke past the Capital Police officers was trespass, a misdemeanor that probably would not even be charged in most cases.
There was no “coup” attempt, just protests. The most militant demonstrators had a variety of grievances they were protesting, the most common of which was the laxity in enforcing border law. They were right.
Please tell us why Capitol Police were “scared’ for the safety of “the Legislative Branch”. No one was threatening them and no one had a weapon. “Being scared” has become a default excuse for leftists to use violence.
Ashli Babbit deserved what she got.
So did Good
Nationwide real police officers are trained to not create dangerous situations. They are trained to maximize safety by not standing in front of cars, not creating dangerous situations.
Since one masked officer distracted the driver, it’s possible the driver never saw the second officer that placed himself in danger (disobeying police protocols).
The federal officer that disobeyed standard police protocols, he shot from the side of the vehicle with no risk of being run over by the driver.
Turns out the driver was a mother of 3 small children. Kristi Noem (with providing evidence) defamed the mother as a “domestic terrorist”. Trump said the mother ran over an officer – completely false.
You seem to have already conducted the investigation, interviewed the witnesses and LE officers and obtained and reviewed all video of the event. Congratulations on your rapid and exhaustive review.
Ano
Since one masked officer distracted the driver.
Pure bull S. She pulled her car in front of the ice vehicle to block it. The office got out to arrest her. She caused this
Just watch. When the latest indication in the Epstein files (with 2 million documents yet to be released and the current ones even heavily redacted) is that Mara Lago was being used for years to harvest girls for Epstein’s pedophile operation, every Trumptard on here will suddenly start saying, “what’s wrong with having sex with young girls?”
Just watch. More pictures of Bill Clinton will come out of him in Epstein’s pool, getting massages, getting friendly with all those young girls.
Odd that the previous administration sat on something that big and instead led with the classified documents case.
You have proof… ?
Yeah I think not
Had that been your mother/wife/daughter – who in a momentary panic – engaged in an action absolutely warranting a moving violation . . . would you still feel a head shot was appropriate? Look, I believe I’m a reasonable man, and I’ve been voting Republican since 1980 but I’ve now switched registration back to Democrat. Why? Simple, because unlike awaiting the justice system to arrest, charge, and prosecute this agent, switching was immediate and easy.
Sir, in all honesty, what we became is the opposite of what led me to Republicanism, a party of small government, low taxes, and reduced regulation. Respectfully, I can’t condone this and I’ll now begin speaking up at work, church, and amongst all my family about the consequences of our vote. Quite honestly? I have no problem envisioning that having been my mother at the wheel.
Your momma is a terrorist?!
Your mother would of sought to impede LEOs from carrying out their duties? Your mother would of not follow LEOs orders? Your mother would attempt to evade and escape from LEOs, even hitting one?
You’re not a reasonable man, and you’ve never voted Republican in your life. This was a paid protestor, who was caught interfering with a LE operation. She was ordered from her vehicle, and instead, drove at an officer in an attempttoescape. This case is going nowhere.
My parents both legal immigrants (have passed) would never have been out on the streets attempting to block the actions of police. They were thrilled to become Americans and always reminded us kids to obey the law and respect the police. I hope there is a full investigation especially to locate the funding of these “protest’s”. Your change from one political group to another would have seemed more believable if you said something like “I’m going to register as an Independent”.
Jezzz John. She drove her car to block the ICE truck, to block it. The officer got out to arrest her. She drove away hitting the other ICE officer.
She was not “speeding” towards the officer, who could have easily stood aside, then fired at the car’s tires.
Joe Brady
Newark, DE
Firing at car tires is a Hollywood gimick.
Then shoot her in the leg, as Pres. Biden said.
How much time does an officer have to assess a threat and save his own life and those of his fellow officers?
“He who hesitates is lost.”
– From Cato, 1712
Joe, were you there?
Was the was front wheel spinning quickly, indicating she had floored it. Was she in control of her vehicle? Was she in control of herself?
Was Ashli Babbitt’s death a murder?
Renee Nicole Good’s death was AWFL.
Frey and leftist Democrats conveniently forget that Ms. Good was ordered by an ICE agent to “get out of the car…,” at which point she ignored the order, shifted her 3,000 lb. battering ram into “drive” and both intentionally and aggressively accelerated toward another ICE agent. Good made several REALLY bad decisions yesterday, and has suffered the consequences.
Here’s a PSA for Frey, Tampon Timmy Walz and leftists obstructing ICE officers from enforcing the law: do not try to kill them with 3,000 lb. battering rams.
Indeed. When law enforcement officers with guns tell you to get out of your car, it’s obviously not a suggestion.
She was not going to let them tell her what to do, and it cost her her life. But that was her decision, her choice. Period.
‘Democrats may indeed “see triumph” in rage politics.’
Yes, they do. I have gone from thinking the modern left was just corrupt and nefarious to the skies to realizing they are, in fact, insane. And they have been 100% captured by communist/socialist/elitist globalism. They are barely hiding it anymore.
You’re supporting a president who’s hiding pedophiles… so what’s your point?
I have never supported Joe Biden hiding pedophiles. He should have turned himself in for molesting his daughter, as she stated in her diary.
LOL, Trump’s pedophilia hiding is plainly evident yet Trump supporters can’t admit it. Are Trump supporters secretly pedophiliacs? Seem so.
This is at best, speculation and slander. Nice work
What does Bill Clinton have to do with this?
Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender’s jet much more than previously known
“Former President Bill Clinton was a much more frequent flyer on a registered sex offender’s infamous jet than previously reported, with flight logs showing the former president taking at least 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express” — even apparently ditching his Secret Service detail for at least five of the flights, according to records obtained by FoxNews.com.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/flight-logs-show-bill-clinton-flew-on-sex-offenders-jet-much-more-than-previously-known
@Anonymous
Yes, Biden was the worst, but he is no longer POTUS, and I never supported him, even when he was just in Congress, so. . . .
Bill Clinton is that you
Legitimate law enforcement officers don’t wear masks and have badges displayed wearing full police uniforms.
The good news: This is jurisdiction of the Minnesota Attorney. The state AG could indict and convict federal officers possibly including Kristi Noem – and there is no presidential pardon!
@Anonymous
As an idiot, in 2025, you and your lot aren’t even particularly useful, just petulant and impossible to take seriously, even when your temper tantrums turn violent, and you are the only ones that resort to that. Slugs look down and shake their heads, and rightfully.
Why are the protesters allowed to wear masks to hide their identities?
No he can’t. Are you this dumb? Let me spell it out for you mate,
SUPREMACY CLAUSE!!!!!!!!!
18 U.S. Code § 111 – Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees
(a) In General.—Whoever—
(1) forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties; or
(2) forcibly assaults or intimidates any person who formerly served as a person designated in section 1114 on account of the performance of official duties during such person’s term of service,
shall, where the acts in violation of this section constitute only simple assault, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and where such acts involve physical contact with the victim of that assault or the intent to commit another felony, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
(b) Enhanced Penalty.—Whoever, in the commission of any acts described in subsection (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon (including a weapon intended to cause death or danger but that fails to do so by reason of a defective component) or inflicts bodily injury, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
(c) Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.—There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over the conduct prohibited by this section.
Hilarious, Turley. You ignore due process arguments time and time again when it comes to ICE disappearing people and sending them to El Salvador. But when it comes to a very disturbing video in which it is completely understandable how anyone would immediately say the ICE shooting in Minnesota is a criminal act what do you argue? Due process, due process! Pathetic.
Sadly, there are far to many mis-educated ” skulls full of mush” that will believe the above rant against the good professor. The credible “threat” against an officer qualifies as assault. In this case it appears the vehicle actually struck the officer. That is battery.
ICE is not disappearing anyone. They are carrying out their duties, as authorized by Congress, to detain illegal aliens.
The videos show a person blocking the road with her vehicle. When ordered out of her vehicle she hits the gas, hits a ICE officer as she attempted to evade and escape. The criminal act was 1) blocking the road, 2) not following ICE LEOs orders 3) attempting to evade and escape 4) hitting a ICE LEO with her vehicle. The actions of the ICE officer, in self-defense, was justified. As the videos showed.
Upstate
When this first happened, MSN showed her pulling in front of the ICE truck to block it. If you watch some of the latest videos. That part is missing, just her pulling away
@Anonymous
Being arrested is not being disappeared, everyone knows precisely where they are and are even free to contact them if they wish. I am now convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt by your nauseatingly regurgitated rhetoric that you are under 35. Let the grownups talk.
Oh goody you’re drunk
She had her vehicle parked sideways in the street to block traffic. In one of the vids, you can hear an officer tell her to get out of her vehicle. Instead, she decided to try to run away.
One vid shows an officer standing directly in front of her vehicle as she hit the gas. I doubt she was trying to kill him, but her reckless disregard for his safety could have resulted in his death had he stumbled and been unable to get out of the way.
Convicting him of murder will be a tragedy.
What distinguishes the Democrat Party coalition, and their representatives, is they are almost all rage filled emotional nutjobs unconcerned about facts and law. Many, if not most, are fueled by mental illness.
“What distinguishes the Democrat Party coalition, and their representatives, is they are almost all rage filled emotional nutjobs unconcerned about facts and law. Many, if not most, are fueled by mental illness.”
It is amazing to me how you cannot see the utter unethical and immoral history, character, and current decision making of Trump.
There is nothing unethical or immoral about enforcing immigration laws. Impeding ICE or other LEOs from carrying out their duties, as authorized by Congress, is unethical and immoral.
lol. You booted for Biden, the child sniffer and and guy who showers with his kid who was not at the age that would make that appropriate. HA!
Voted*
Goldman is at the point where he gets the Robespierre treatment of being last to the political guillotine. He thought he was a good old leftist but then Brad Lander, a fool and a charlatan, out lefts him and attacks him from the crazy side. Lander will win, AOC will be the senator replacing Schumer, who is also getting the Robespierre treatment, and the party continues it’s lurch leftward into ultimate oblivion. Leftist policies don’t work on the ground and in reality.
Dems never want to debate, never go on non-liberal newscasts and scream down opposing points of view whenever possible, as on campuses everywhere.
As an example Republicans being willing to discuss their ideas and policies and Dems not being able to defend theirs every weekend you will see Trump officials, Republican elected officials and even Trump himself go on Meet the Press, Face the Nation and Little Georgie’s ABC show to face down wickedly aggressive “interviews” by nasty face making leftists but Welker, Brennan and George, but Dems will never go on Fox News with a very fair Brett Baeir.
People are leaving blue areas and moving, with their money, to red areas because their policies don’t work.
How long before even Professor Turley gives up and leaves the party. Fetterman too.
Right now, every Dem politician is vulnerable to challenge from their left. That’s why Chuck can’t dance fast enough.
J. Turley, I wouldn’t call it murder, but certainly an unnecessary shooting/death. If she was driving straight toward him (that is to be determined), most people would jump out of the way, rather than fire a gun into the windshield and then into the back car window. At best he was poorly trained, if at all. Closing the border was/is good, but these ICE raids are theater which the country was tiring of….now they had enough for sure.
I think these demonstrations are theatre and the country is getting tired of them.
You’re not a fan of deporting violent criminals?
Free Derek Chauvin!
Tell it to Trump.
The video proves she tried to stop ICE agents and then she ran the office over.
so your eyes dont work, got it
You are blind Ano
She pulled her car in front of ICE to block the truck. When the officer got out to arrest her. She hit the gas.
DustOff,
Exactly!!! I have watched two different videos and she was not attempting a three point turn as the mayor of Minneapolis is claiming. She hit the ICE officer with her vehicle, as she attempted to evade and escape. The ICE officers gave her legal orders.
Former FBI, CBP agents say Minneapolis ICE shooting likely to be ruled justified
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/former-fbi-cbp-say-minneapolis-ice-shooting-likely-be-ruled-justified
so YOUR eyes dont work either. Guess with the lack of Obama care subsidies is really impacted the eye sight of boomers
Just like you don’t care that Obama and Hillary were behind the Russian Collusion coup, I don’t care when someone tries to run over or flee from the police is killed.
ok boomer
Just like Vietnam was before my time, being a Baby Boomer was well before my time.
DECLARATION OF SECESSION AND WAR
De Facto Insurrection
De Facto Rebellion
______________________
“To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: You’ve done enough.”
“I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard.”
“We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed, if necessary.”
– “Tampon Tim” Walz
I concur. These people are all flippant, fast and loose with their words not sparing a moment of thought before they say things.
When I was 12, my dad sat me down for “the talk.” He explained that I was growing up, and police would no longer treat me as a harmless child but as a possible threat.
He stressed the importance of obeying the police’s lawful orders, because they could hurt me if I didn’t.
Further, if I thought an order was illegal, I should follow it anyways and sort itout later.
Renee Nicole Good’s dad never had “the talk” with her.
Or she never read the drivers manual which basically says the same thing.
reminder Trump was arrested and fined $500 Million for paying back a loan by a corrupt judge and an Attorney General WHO RAN on jailing Trump.
Time for the GOP to STOP trying to be nice or bi-partisan. It is time to START destroy the ENTIRE Democrat Party…END its funding and jail the criminals across their party!
democrats are fascists…just accept this is 1860…and Democrats are ALREADY fighting a Civil War
I expect nothing less from progressively stupid.
Or you Trumptard hillbillies.
Are you drunk?