Vice President J.D. Vance dismissed the possibility that an ICE officer who shot and killed a woman Wednesday in Minneapolis could face federal or state charges and suggested Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz focus on investigating “why you have so many people using their vehicles and other means to interfere with legitimate law enforcement operations.”

REPORTER: The head of Minnesota’s investigative agencies says the U.S. Attorney’s Office has essentially cut off the state investigative agency’s access to this investigation. What is the president’s rationale for that, and why shouldn’t Minnesota officials on the ground have access to evidence to work on this investigation? VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: I wish the state officials in Minnesota would investigate why you have so many people using their vehicles and other means to interfere with legitimate law enforcement operations. The precedent here is very simple. You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in a federal law enforcement action. That is a federal issue. He is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job. The idea that Tim Walz and a bunch of radicals are going to go after him and make this guy’s life miserable because he was doing the job he was asked to do is preposterous. The truly unprecedented thing is the idea that a local official could prosecute a federal official who has absolute immunity. I’ve never seen anything like that. It would get tossed out by a judge. What I would like Minnesota to focus on is the real issue: they are encouraging people-many officials are encouraging people-to commit violence against ICE officers. It’s ridiculous and it has to stop. REPORTER: You said earlier there is a left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible for ICE officers to do their job. My colleague just noted there is an investigation going on related to that network. If everything you say is true, how does being part of that network justify being shot? VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: Being part of a network does not justify being shot. But ramming an ICE officer with your car-that is what justifies being shot. It’s not a good thing, by the way. But when somebody engages in self-defense, it’s almost a preposterous question. I’m not saying that funding some of this stuff justifies capital punishment. Nobody would suggest that. The reason this woman is dead is because she tried to ram somebody with her car, and that guy acted in self-defense. That is why she lost her life, and that is a tragedy. Now, there may be other violations of the law and other penalties associated with those violations. For example, if you are funding violence against our law enforcement officers-I’m not a prosecutor-my guess is that is not the sort of thing that earns capital punishment, but it should certainly earn you a few years in prison if you are trying to assault our law enforcement officers. What is going on here? You are meant to report the truth. How have you let yourselves become agents of propaganda for a radical fringe that is making it harder to enforce our laws? You just asked me a question that presumed the reason this person died is because she was engaged in legitimate protest. She tried to run somebody over with her car, and the officer defended himself when that happened. Next question. REPORTER: The investigation is still ongoing. Mr. Vice President, if you’ve watched the video yourself, is there not the slightest doubt in your mind-having viewed it-that the victim deliberately tried to ram him, despite seeing the video? VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: I don’t know what was in a person’s heart or head, and obviously we’re not going to get the chance to ask this woman what was going on. What I am certain of is that she violated the law. What I am certain of is that the officer had every right to believe he was under serious threat of injury or death. What I am certain of is that she accelerated in a way that caused her to run into him. I don’t know what was in her heart or her head, but I know she violated the law, and I know the officer was acting in self-defense. It raises an interesting point. If people want to have a legitimate debate about what she was really doing-was she panicking, or was she trying to ram him-that is a reasonable conversation. What is not reasonable is for so many of you to plaster across the media that this was an innocent woman and that the ICE agent committed murder, which many of you have said explicitly and others implicitly. That’s what I object to.

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