‘Hold the line on decency’: Tim Walz slams ICE atrocities in Minnesota

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held a press conference Thursday to address the heinous killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Speaking to the destructive and inhumane nature of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, Walz noted that ICE agents raided Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis shortly after the killing, creating chaos and fear for children. 

“This tragedy will be magnified a hundredfold if this fight moves into the hallways of our public schools amongst our youth. And they're watching us. They’re watching us now—how we respond,” he said.

Walz also pointed out that the Trump administration is refusing to cooperate with Minnesota officials in investigating Good’s killing.

“[It is] very difficult for Minnesotans to think in any way this is going to be fair when Kristi Noem was judge, jury, and basically executioner yesterday,” he said.

Walz further cautioned against rash or retaliatory actions directed at fellow Minnesotans, while also urging Americans not to “bend the knee” to the “brazen use of force” exhibited by ICE goons.  

“Protect our Minnesotans who are out there, and don’t turn the anger to them,” he said. “The way we give them what they want is [to] allow them to use this as an excuse to put more troops on the ground.”

Walz closed by quoting George Orwell’s warning against authoritarianism in “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” 

"’The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most [essential directive],’” he said. “The nation's looking to us to hold the line on democracy, to hold the line on decency, to hold the line on accountability. And more than that, to rise up as neighbors and simply say we can look out for one another.”