The country watched in outrage as an ICE operation in Minneapolis turned deadly on January 7, 2026, when an agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman during an encounter on a residential street. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey publicly denounced the federal action, flatly rejecting the DHS self-defense account and bluntly telling ICE to “get the f— out” of his city as he demanded answers and justice.
On Fox News, constitutional law attorney Jonathan Turley ripped into Mayor Frey’s reflexive grandstanding, calling the mayor’s rhetoric reckless and warning it would feed the very chaos it claims to condemn. Fox’s legal voices—including legal editor Kerri Urbahn—rightly pointed out that political performance at a press conference does not substitute for patience with an active federal investigation, and that stoking public fury in the immediate aftermath of a shooting is dangerous.
Let’s be clear: defending due process and demanding a transparent probe are one thing; whipping up partisan fury and effectively encouraging civil obstruction of law enforcement is another. Acting ICE leadership and federal officials have defended agents’ actions as defensive in difficult, split-second circumstances, and those facts deserve to be examined without turning law enforcement into political piñatas.
The story didn’t stop in Minneapolis. The next day in Portland, federal Border Patrol agents shot and wounded two people during a vehicle stop in a hospital parking lot, a separate incident that has Oregon officials demanding answers and opening investigations. DHS has alleged gang connections and that agents faced a dangerous threat, while state and local leaders have used both Portland and Minneapolis to push predictable anti-enforcement narratives instead of seeking calm and clear facts.
Americans who believe in law and order should be wary of the double standard: when federal agents act under the color of law they deserve thorough, impartial scrutiny, but when mayors and progressive politicians leap to demonize officers before evidence is in, they bear responsibility if their words incite unrest. Jonathan Turley is right to call out this performative cruelty; leaders who fan flames should be held to account for the disorder that follows.
What hardworking Americans want is simple: independent, competent investigations, accountability where misconduct occurred, and support for officers who put themselves between criminals and civilians. If politicians want to grandstand, let them do it at the ballot box; right now the priority should be protecting communities, preserving the rule of law, and ensuring justice for the victims these chaotic confrontations leave behind.
