Kristi Noem Shuts Down Jake Tapper, Takes Him to School on What Domestic Terrorism Is [WATCH]

An on-air exchange between Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and CNN anchor Jake Tapper focused on a fatal incident in Minneapolis involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and a woman who was shot after a confrontation during an enforcement action in severe weather conditions.

Tapper challenged Noem’s description of the events, disputing her characterization of the woman’s actions and her use of the term “domestic terrorist” shortly after the incident.

“The first thing you said was, quote, what happened was, 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 and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. That’s not what happened. We all saw what happened,” Tapper said.

Noem rejected that assertion and stood by her account of the incident, stating that ICE officers were assisting with a stuck vehicle when the confrontation escalated.

“It absolutely is what happened. Those officers had been out in enforcement action, a vehicle had been stuck. They had come to help get that vehicle out. That’s when this individual started blocking traffic for minutes and minutes before…” Noem said.

Tapper interrupted to emphasize his objection to her wording. “But you said that the woman attacked them and surrounded them and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle,” he said.

Noem responded by focusing on what she described as unlawful behavior prior to the shooting.

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“Blocked the road for a long time and was yelling at them and impeding a federal law enforcement investigation. That’s what you need to focus on, Jake, is they were breaking the law by impeding and obstructing a law enforcement operation. They were breaking the law already, and these officers were doing their due diligence what their training had prepared them to do to make sure they were handling it appropriately,” Noem said.

The exchange then turned to Noem’s earlier statement labeling the woman a domestic terrorist, a characterization Tapper questioned directly.

“You said within hours of her being killed, you said that she was a domestic terrorist. How do you define domestic terrorists?” Tapper asked.

Noem answered by pointing to the use of the vehicle during the confrontation.

“She weaponized her vehicle to conduct an act of violence against a law enforcement officer and the public,” Noem said.

Tapper pressed further, asking whether Noem could definitively conclude that the woman intended to cause harm rather than escape.

“How can you assert with certainty that she was trying to hurt the officer, as opposed to she was trying to flee the scene?” Tapper asked.

Noem again pointed to the evidence she said was visible in released footage.

“If you look at what the definition of domestic terrorism is it completely fits the situation on the ground. This individual, as you saw in the video that we released just 48 hours after this incident, showed that this officer was hit by her vehicle. She weaponized it, and he defended his life and those colleagues around him and the public,” Noem said.

In a separate video aired during the same segment, Noem reiterated her position and emphasized what she described as undisputed facts.

“The Facts of the situation are that the vehicle was weaponized and it attacked the law enforcement officer. He defended himself, and he defended those individuals around him. That is the definition when there is something that is weaponized to use against the public and law enforcement. That is an act of domestic terrorism happened in our in our shores. It happened here in our country,” Noem said.

She also criticized attempts to reinterpret the incident.

“You don’t get to change the facts just because you don’t like them,” Noem said.

Noem added that investigators are still examining the actions leading up to the confrontation, including earlier encounters between the woman and law enforcement.

“We will continue to look at this individual and what her motivations were. We know that there was throughout that morning she had harassed and impeded law enforcement operations that raises the suspicion level with all of these law enforcement officers, as far as paying attention to what her capacity is,” she said.

She concluded by defending the officer’s response.

“And as you see on the videos, and they’ve proven out that this law enforcement officer took the action that his training prepared him for, and he worked to make sure that he could save his own life and those around him,” Noem said.