The other topic I wanted to discuss this morning involves the several incidents of people being shot by federal law enforcement officers. First, a woman was killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Victoria Albert, Alyssa Lukpat, and Joseph Pisani report at The Wall Street Journal:
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman during an operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, leaving federal and city officials sparring over what caused the deadly encounter.
The Department of Homeland Security said that the woman attempted to run over law-enforcement officers and that an agent fired in self-defense. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had seen a video of the incident and in fiery remarks disputed the department’s version of events as “bull—t,” telling ICE to get out of the city.
“This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying,” he said during a news conference Wednesday. He said the woman who died was 37 years old. When asked if the woman was using her vehicle as a weapon, as DHS alleged, he said “that does not appear to be the case at all.”
These incidents are not isolated. They are the predictable result of an unstable mix of inconsistent border enforcement, sanctuary policies, aggressive federal enforcement, and an increasingly confrontational public culture.
My parents taught me that when a law enforcement officer tells you to stop you do it. Tragically, the woman who was killed did not follow that advice.
They also taught me that authority does not excuse recklessness, and that those who wield state power bear a higher burden of restraint.
IMO the ICE officer should be placed on administrative leave, the federal district attorney should investigate the incident, and, if probable cause is found, the officer should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Experience suggests that no one will be satisfied by the outcome.
That seems to be very much what is happening in the case of another ICE shooting in Oregon. Claire Rush and Gene Johnson report at the Associated Press:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said.
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor’s office if warranted.
The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement.
It has also been reported that the state authorities are investigating the incident.
In addition to supporters of different political parties taking opposing views of the incidents there appears to be a recurring argument between those who think the laws should be enforced and those who do not. That as made quite clear in the mayor of Minneapolis’s statement, quoted above.
Under our present circumstances, every enforcement action is perceived as provocation, every protest as insurrection, and every tragedy as evidence of bad faith.
According to what I’ve read, witnesses say that the officers in MN were giving contradicting orders, like “Stop!” and “Move out of the way”. Good training and the superior execution of legal duties I’ve come to expect from masked men who are not to be trifled with.
Now that a new cell phone video has been made available – and you knew that was just a matter of time – do you think Dem politicians and the vast majority of media will stop with the ICE are murderers schtick?
Nah.
If I was a cynic I’d think this is a diversion from Somalian fraud, with a healthy portion of TDS. If I was a cynic……….
I guess the mayor was exhibiting political bias when he claimed Trump was lying when he said the officer who had done the shooting was run over requiring hospitalization.
Looked at the new video and dont think it changes much. Hopefully they have more video from before the incident. The ones i have seen were short but it looked like she had been parked there before ICE came along and then was waving them by. Certainly didnt have the demeanor of someone intent on killing an agent. If she was really going to try to run him over I would have expected her to really floor it, which she didnt. I am over 70 and could have avoided that car.
This could have been avoided in lots of ways. The ICE people could have just driven around her. The shooter should not have walked in front of the car. The driver could have gotten out of the car (though she may have also been told to move the car) and the shooter could have just ducked out of the way, which he did easily.
My bet is that they will find the shooting justified since we seem to have largely decided that law enforcement gets the benefit of the doubt if there is even the slightest doubt, and in this case there is, but the actions of the LEOs that lead to the shooting that could have been easily avoided will be ignored as they have no obligation to try to protect or not harm the public. (I think what likely happened is the officer and the driver both panicked. Given the minimal training the ICE people are getting something like this was inevitable.)
Steve
steve: My bet is that they will find the shooting justified since we seem to have largely decided that law enforcement gets the benefit of the doubt
Even if it went to trial, conviction would be difficult. But it’s not just a matter of whether he could be convicted of a crime, but that he could have easily avoided killing her. He could have not stood in front of the car. He could have just moved away. If she broke the law, she could have been charged later. He’s supposed to serve the public—even the cantankerous ones.
“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” — Ben Franklin
“The French spread the ideals of the Republic across Europe.”
“Yeah, but when are they going to go back to France?”
I think the new cell phone footage shows that no crime was committed, or at least nothing that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Maybe new footage will show something else, but the larger issue is that the ICE officer is unlikely to be charged for anything serious by the DOJ, and state charges run up against a strong (though not absolute) immunity defense. I think an immunity claim will be based upon the denial of a federal defense because Minnesota self-defense law deviates from the common law such as requiring a duty to retreat.
It’s not an absolute defense, there have been many state prosecutions of federal officers for traffic-related violations while on-the-clock. Unless they are in hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect or engaged in a raid, there isn’t some competing federal law or principle that permits ignoring speed limits or driving carelessly. Some state and local traffic regulations probably restate federal regulations tied to road funding anyway.