Minnesota representative on ICE shooting and welfare fraud in the state

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis Wednesday.

According to Brennan, Good and her partner were protesters and were driving around Minneapolis recording what some of the ICE agents were doing, and, according to the Minneapolis police chief, she blocked the street with her car.

President Donald Trump said Good's partner was "a paid agitator" while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged that it was an act of terrorism.

This prompted Brennan to ask Rep. Omar if she would tell Americans it's too dangerous to protest, as well as to go out and document as Good was doing, to which the congresswoman said:

"I think it is really important for Americans to record to create the level of accountability and transparency that we need. What we have seen in Minneapolis is ICE agents oftentimes jumping out of their cars. These are unmarked cars. Oftentimes, they're wearing a mask. They're approaching, running towards cars. They're pulling people out of those cars. Oftentimes, these people are citizens. Oftentimes, these people have documentation of their legal right to be in this country, and we know that DHS has lied repeatedly when it comes to these accounts, so it is even more important for there to be recording from eyewitnesses every single time these actions are taking place."

The congresswoman also added:

"Renee Nicole Good[, who in the video said] she's not mad. She's sitting in her car peacefully, waving cars to get by this agent, as you see, gets out of his car, automatically starts running towards her, trying to open her door. She feels scared, she tries to turn the wheel away. And then you see the other officer...who can clearly see the car is moving, move towards the front of the car. Which, if they are saying that he has 10 years on service and is trained, he should know that you shouldn't be trying to get in front of a moving car, and so it is not acceptable for Kristi Noem and the president and the vice president to make these kind of judgments without there being a full investigation, even though we can see in the videos that have been produced so far that what they are describing is really not what is taking place. And so if they're saying that we shouldn't believe our eyes, then let the investigation take place before you characterize this mother of three as a domestic terrorist. Prove to us what documentation you have that, one, that she was paid. Two, that she was agitating when we can hear her say she's not mad, she's not upset. She's clearly trying to wave cars to bypass her. And so...this level of rhetoric is unjustifiable to the American people."

During the interview, Brennan and Omar talked about welfare fraud in Minnesota, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling the state "ground zero for what may be the most egregious welfare scam" in the nation's history to date.

Brennan said 85 of the 98 people charged by the Justice Department were Somali, and Secretary Bessent is investigating whether any of the money was funneled outside the country.

Brennan also said Bessent is issuing new standards, where he's going to make someone disclose if they receive any public assistance when trying to wire money out of the country, as well as lowering the bar for suspicious activity.

When asked what is the practical impact this will have on the community, Omar said:

"It's just creating fear. What they are doing is creating confusion, chaos, trying to intimidate people from being able to exercise their regular, normal activities that they would. There is no justification in any of the things that they say. The 87 people that you've described as being investigated, many of them adjudicated, all happened under the Biden administration. There is no justification for this surge. We know that ICE has the ability to conduct raids. There is no reason have over 2,000 people coming in to our city and creating the level of terror that they have created."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Omar talked about Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chair of the House Oversight Committee, who says he wants to refer the congresswoman to the Ethics Committee.

According to Brennan, Rep. Comer said he looked at Omar's husband's income and net worth, and said it was tied to a private equity investment funds, but is insulating that Omar is tied to the welfare scam.

This led Brennan to ask Omar how she responds to Comer's allegations, and Omar said, "Ever since I've gotten to Congress, they have been doing these sort of weird ethics investigations, none of them have yielded anything because I have been as transparent as I can be, and there is nothing wrong with any documentation that I have ever provided to the federal government."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Omar, click here.