Former Metropolitan Police Department officer Mike Fanone said Thursday Americans should consider taking up arms against federal law enforcement agencies in the wake of a deadly shooting during an immigration enforcement operation.
A United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday during what Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin described as a “targeted enforcement operation.” Fanone, who was one of the officers who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol Building which he has repeatedly called an “insurrection,” claimed ICE has become an “unaccountable and lawless agency” during an episode of the “Lincoln Square” podcast. (RELATED: Tim Walz Tells Anti-ICE Protesters Not To Riot—But It’s Not For Reason You May Think)
“So these politicians and these local, state, and municipal law enforcement agencies need to wake the fuck up,” Fanone told “Lincoln Square” co-host Mara May. “I appreciate the foul language coming out of the mouth of the mayor of Minneapolis, and I think that he, his sentiment in the moment was appropriate. That being said: what are, what are you doing? What are you directing your law enforcement agencies to do to protect your citizens? How are you going about doing that?”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey notably told ICE to “get the fuck out of” his city in remarks he made on the day of Good’s shooting.
WATCH:
“I don’t need to hear from the chief of police that we all need to remain calm and protest peacefully. Fuck you and fuck that,” Fanone continued. “What are you doing to keep me safe? What are you doing to keep my mother safe, my sister safe, my community safe from these thugs? That’s what I need to hear coming out of these agents or these officers. Because if you’re not going to do it, then it’s time for the American people to organize and to utilize their Second Amendment right to protect themselves from what has clearly become an unaccountable and lawless agency that’s killing Americans.”
Fanone, who labeled the participants in the Jan. 6 riot “terrorists” during his testimony to the heavily scrutinized Jan. 6 select committee in July 2021, made multiple appearances on CNN and MSNBC condemning President Donald Trump over the attack. In 2022, the former police officer met with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whose office called him a “hero.” Fanone has also criticized ICE over its enforcement operations in past appearances on Lincoln Square Media.
Resistance to ICE’s enforcement operations has been violent at times. In Illinois and California, shots were fired at ICE agents carrying out operations, while ICE agents have reportedly been attacked by multiple assailants who used cars to ram vehicles in the Chicago area.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said during a Wednesday press conference that three ramming attacks took place in Minneapolis that day and that agents had faced “over 100” such attacks in “recent weeks.“
On Friday, cell phone footage taken by the ICE agent who shot Good which appears to show her moving her vehicle forward, even though the agent was in the way, was obtained and posted on X by Alpha News, a Minnesota-based online outlet. The agent appears to be struck by the vehicle before he fires the shots that fatally wounded Good, who was part of an “ICE Watch” network that had previously tried to interfere with immigration enforcement options.
McLaughlin criticized Fanone for his “incendiary and immature” remarks in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The latest footage corroborates what DHS has stated all along: This individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle against ICE officers,” McLaughlin said. “The officer dutifully acted in self-defense. The American people can watch this video with their own eyes and judge for themselves.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
