Committee member accuses Homeland Security Secretary Noem of cover-up after Minneapolis shootings and criticizes agency spending

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, a committee member sharply criticized Homeland Security Secretary Noem, alleging that ICE agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents and that department officials mounted smear campaigns and obstructed local investigators.

The committee member said one victim, identified in the transcript as "Renee Goode" (also transcribed once as "Renee Nicole Good"), was shot three times while returning from dropping off her children and that agents "refused to let a doctor or EMTs approach her." The member added, "You ran a smear campaign against Renee Goode. You called her a domestic terrorist." The lawmaker also alleged that a second man, "Alex Preddy," was beaten, disarmed and shot "with 10 bullets" after filming agents, and accused the department of preemptively labeling him a domestic terrorist.

The speaker cited cellphone video captured by bystanders and said it "tells the true facts," accusing the department of attempting to "cover up with propaganda." A presenter in the hearing played or read a media account that stated local officials described the man in one clip as a 37-year-old lawful gun owner; that clip said the individual arrived "with weapons and ammunition." The committee member presented the video claim as evidence contradicting official statements.

The member also pointed to multiple court rulings, saying that judges have described department testimony and affidavits as "disingenuous, squalid, and dishonorable," and referenced a finding by Judge Patrick Schultz that the department had likely violated immigration court orders in January 2026 at a rate higher than some agencies' historical totals. The committee member said lawyers had recently acknowledged the department violated immigration court orders more than 50 times in 10 weeks in at least one judicial district.

Beyond the use-of-force allegations, the committee member criticized department management and spending, alleging budget lines for media consultants (which the speaker called "$220,000,000") and luxury aircraft purchases and leases (the speech references "$172,000,000" for two jets and a "$70,000,000" leased "7-37 Max" with a queen-size bedroom). The speaker recounted an anecdote alleging that a staffer (named in the transcript) fired a pilot midflight and then rehired him because no replacement was available.

The lawmaker said that personnel responsible for tracking terror financing and cyber threats were reassigned to immigration operations, that FEMA withheld critical search-and-rescue support during recent Central Texas floods for 72 hours, and that ICE and CBP have conducted broad arrests of nonviolent people—"kindergartners, day care teachers, and parents dropping off kids at school," the committee member said. The member cited the case of Nurul Shah Alam, described as a nearly blind Rohingya refugee, saying he was dropped at a closed coffee shop in subfreezing temperatures and later died.

The committee member concluded by describing the department as having "turned our government against our people," urged continued oversight and public resistance, and yielded back to the chair. The transcript excerpt contains the member's extended statement but does not record a response from Secretary Noem in this segment or any formal votes tied to these allegations.

The hearing transcript includes a short media/presenter excerpt reading local coverage and official statements that appear to conflict with some of the committee member's claims; the transcript also records a number of court criticisms cited by the member but does not attach case names or written orders to every assertion in the speech. The transcript shows a mix of factual claims, named cases or judges referenced by the committee member, and alleged incidents; several names and spellings appear inconsistently in the transcript (for example, "Renee Goode" vs. "Renee Nicole Good"), which the member noted in speech.

Next steps were not recorded in this excerpt: the committee member "yielded back" after the remarks and no vote or formal departmental response appears in the provided segment.