Karoline Leavitt launched a sharp rebuke against a British journalist who brought up the issue of an ICE agent fatally shooting a protester in Minneapolis.
As a spokesperson for Donald Trump, Leavitt confronted Niall Stanage from The Hill during his intense questioning regarding the death of 37-year-old Renee Good, which occurred the previous week.
Stanage posed a pointed inquiry: “With 32 individuals dying in ICE custody last year and 170 U.S. citizens wrongfully detained by ICE, along with the recent shooting of Renee Good, how can these actions be justified as correct?”
Leavitt countered with her own question: “What were the circumstances that led to Renee Good’s unfortunate and tragic death?”
Surprised by her response, the journalist responded, “Are you seeking my opinion on this?”
Affirmatively, the press secretary nodded.
The Northern Irishman stated: ‘Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably.’
Leavitt then launched into a ferocious personal attack, calling him a ‘biased reporter with a left-wing opinion’ and stating he should not be in the press room because he was ‘posing as a journalist.’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Thursday
The offending question was asked by The Hill’s Niall Stanage
‘You shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat, but you’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist and the question that you just raised in your answer proves your bias,’ Leavitt said.
‘Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you don’t, I bet you didn’t even read up on those stories.
‘I bet you never even write about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray or all of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country and the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our community safer.’
Leavitt added: ‘Shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you’re real, honest journalists.’
Good, a mother of three, was shot dead after driving her car at ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who was attempting to arrest her for blocking the road with her SUV during protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
The FBI is investigating her death which has set off a wave of riots in the city.
Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if ‘the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators.’
Tensions rose further overnight and more protests broke out as another person was shot and wounded by a federal agent in the frigid northern city that is a Democratic stronghold.
The White House press secretary berated The Hill’s Niall Stanage as he grilled Donald Trump’s mouthpiece about the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good on January 7
A family member reacts after a federal immigration officer used a battering ram to break down a door before making an arrest Sunday
Trump reacted on Truth Social with his latest threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th century law that allows the president to deploy soldiers for law enforcement purposes to put down unrest deemed to be an insurrection and has not been used in more than 30 years.
In recent months Trump has threatened several times to use the law as he reacted angrily to protests and court decisions blocking his drive to deploy the National Guard in his muscled crackdown on illegal immigration.
But so far he has stopped short of resorting to the law as he presses an agenda that has drawn accusations of authoritarian overreach and periodic mass rallies with the mantra ‘No Kings.’
‘If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT… and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,’ Trump posted on social media.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, addressing reporters outside the White House, declined to say if she thinks Trump should invoke the law.
‘I think that the President has that opportunity in the future. It’s his constitutional right, and it’s up to him if he wants to utilize it to do it,’ Noem said. Asked if Trump is likely to take this major step, she said ‘I don’t know.’
The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush at the request of California’s Republican governor, who was facing unprecedented riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers who had beaten black motorist Rodney King the previous year.
