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The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, accused a reporter of being a \u201cleftwing activist\u201d during a heated confrontation on Thursday over the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent last week.<\/p>\n
Beginning his question during the White House press briefing, Niall Stanage, a White House columnist for the Hill, referred to the Trump administration\u2019s staunch defense of ICE agents and the assertion by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, that ICE are \u201cdoing everything correctly\u201d. He pointed to statistics showing that last year 32 people died in ICE custody<\/a> and 170 US citizens were detained by ICE<\/a>, before noting that Good was \u201cshot in the head and killed by an ICE agent\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHow does that equate to them doing everything correctly?\u201d he asked Leavitt.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?\u201d Leavitt asked. Stanage asked whether Leavitt was asking him his opinion, to which she said: \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,\u201d Stanage replied.<\/p>\n Leavitt then shot back: \u201cOK, so you\u2019re a biased reporter with a leftwing opinion \u2026 Because you\u2019re a leftwing hack. You\u2019re not a reporter, posing in this room as a journalist. And it\u2019s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people of the media who have such biases but fake like you\u2019re a journalist, you shouldn\u2019t even be sitting in that seat.\u201d<\/p>\n She went on: \u201cBut you\u2019re pretending like you\u2019re a journalist, but you\u2019re a leftwing activist. And the question that you just raised and your answer proves you\u2019re biased. You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on the cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Leavitt told him he should be more focused on how many American citizens were killed by \u201cillegal\u201d immigrants.<\/p>\n \u201cI bet you didn\u2019t even read up on those stories,\u201d she said. \u201cI bet you never even read about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray or all of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hand 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 communities safer. And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you\u2019re a real, honest journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis during a federal immigration enforcement raid on 7 January. Her killing has sparked impassioned protests and condemnation across the country, as well as ongoing political debate over the basic facts of the incident, which was captured on video<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Trump administration<\/a> has staunchly defended the agent, who has been identified as Jonathan Ross, claiming that he fired multiple shots at Good in self-defense as she tried to ram him and other officers with her car. The FBI has only just begun investigating the incident.<\/p>\n Trump falsely said in an interview with the New York Times<\/a> that Good \u201cran him over\u201d, while Noem accused Good of \u201cdomestic terrorism\u201d<\/a>. JD Vance wrote on X<\/a> that Ross was \u201cdefending his life against a deranged leftist who tried to run him over\u201d. US officials have also alleged that Ross suffered internal bleeding when he was hit by her vehicle.<\/p>\n