Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized the media Thursday over its coverage of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer, accusing major outlets of misleading the public and endangering law enforcement with what he described as false and irresponsible reporting.
Speaking from the podium in the White House briefing room, Vance delivered a pointed monologue after addressing the administration’s response to the Somali fraud scandal unfolding in Minnesota. He said the media’s portrayal of the shooting that occurred the day before amounted to a distortion of the facts and unfairly vilified a federal officer acting in self-defense.
Vance said that just moments before stepping to the podium, he was shown a headline from CNN that read, “Outrage after ICE officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.” He said the wording reflected a broader pattern in what he called “corporate media” coverage over the past 24 hours.
“That’s one way to put it,” Vance said, before adding that he intentionally referred to the incident as an attack. According to the vice president, the shooting was “an attack on federal law enforcement,” “an attack on law and order,” and “an attack on the American people.”
Vance accused the media of omitting key context from its reporting and said that failure amounted to an “absolute disgrace.” He warned that such coverage puts law enforcement officers at risk by inflaming public opinion and mischaracterizing dangerous encounters.
Among the details he said were missing from media headlines was the ICE officer’s prior experience in the line of duty. Vance stated that the officer had nearly lost his life six months earlier, when he was dragged by a car during another law enforcement operation and suffered a serious leg injury that required 33 stitches. Vance suggested that history was relevant to understanding why the officer reacted as he did during the Minneapolis incident.
The vice president also said reports failed to acknowledge that the woman who was shot was attempting to interfere with what he described as a legitimate law enforcement operation. According to Vance, the woman was not a bystander but part of a broader effort aimed at obstructing ICE officers from carrying out their duties.
He went further, alleging that the woman was connected to what he called a left-wing network working to attack, dox, and assault ICE agents in order to make it impossible for them to enforce immigration laws. Vance argued that such efforts are part of a wider campaign to undermine the president’s authority and block enforcement of laws enacted by Congress.
“If the media wants to tell the truth, they ought to tell the truth,” Vance said, accusing left-wing radicals of using tactics he likened to domestic terror to prevent immigration enforcement.
Vance emphasized that President Donald Trump and his administration stand firmly behind ICE and law enforcement officers nationwide. He said supporting law enforcement includes pushing back on what he described as false narratives spread by members of the press.
“She was trying to ram this guy with her car, he shot back, he defended himself,” Vance said, adding that portraying the incident as the killing of an innocent woman was a lie. He concluded by chastising journalists who repeated that narrative, telling them they “should be ashamed” for misrepresenting what he characterized as a clear case of self-defense by a federal officer.
[READ MORE: Stephen A. Smith Says ICE Agent Was Justified in Fatal Minneapolis Shooting]
