MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Throughout the program today, we have been reporting on the shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. We're going to turn now to Brian O'Hara. He is the police chief in Minneapolis. He's been on the scene responding to this event. He joins me now live. Welcome.
BRIAN O'HARA: Hi. Good evening. Thank you for having me.
KELLY: Hi, Chief. So the 37-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the hospital. I was watching - I saw at a news conference this afternoon you described her as white, as not the subject of any immigration actions. Do we have that all right?
O'HARA: So the information that we had preliminarily at the scene remains the same, that this is a middle-aged white woman who was not the target of a preplanned law enforcement activity, that this is a woman who was - her vehicle was blocking the roadway. And then the immigration agents got into an encounter with her. She's not the target of any preplanned law enforcement activity.
KELLY: Thank you for clarifying. What is in dispute is why she was shot. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin is on record, saying, and I quote, "an ICE officer fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public fired defensive shots," end quote. Defensive shots - was this an act, as far as you can tell, of self-defense?
O'HARA: Well, I think, you know, very clearly in this country, we expect law enforcement to conduct a full and professional investigation, and that investigation should follow the evidence to its logical conclusion. And so, you know, while it is possible - like any other time law enforcement uses force, it's possible it could be lawful. We should allow the investigation to run its course to its logical conclusion.
KELLY: So you're saying wait for the investigation. There are videos, as I'm sure you know, videos of the shooting that are circulating online. An ICE officer appears to be shooting into the front window of a moving vehicle. Have you seen these videos, Chief? What do you make of them?
O'HARA: I know there's several videos that are online. I have seen at least one of those videos. And I know it has been very alarming to a lot of people in the community. This is a tragedy. I think there's no ways about this. Anytime a person's life is lost, it is tragic. And certainly in law enforcement, you know, we expect our officers to be training and trying to do everything they can to deescalate situations and avoid the use of force and certainly avoid the use - the loss of human life whenever possible.
KELLY: I do want to ask just about the ICE footprint in your city. Officials in Minneapolis and state officials, the governor of Minnesota have been weighing in. The mayor had strong words, saying ICE should get out. I want to play for you - we just interviewed Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat. She said this on our air just within the last hour.
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TINA SMITH: The local law enforcement had no idea that those ICE agents were even there. And so what I see is that these agents are contributing to worsening public safety in my community rather than improving public safety.
KELLY: Brian O'Hara, would you respond to that? Has ICE been helping or hindering your officers in trying to keep your city safe?
O'HARA: Well, it's - you know, I responded to that scene myself very shortly after the initial call came in that there were shots fired involving law enforcement. And I saw really dozens and dozens, you know, if not maybe a few hundred, federal agents ultimately at that scene. And so, you know, the thing that I have been concerned about this entire time, again, is not so much whether or not federal law enforcement is happening, but truly the manner how this enforcement action is being conducted. We should be doing everything in our power to ensure...
KELLY: Right.
O'HARA: ...Our professional responsibility.
KELLY: OK.
O'HARA: And that is that, you know, we are paying attention to the manner in which our officers are performing enforcement actions on the (inaudible)...
KELLY: Brian O'Hara...
O'HARA: ...A professional responsibility.
KELLY: Thank you so much. Brian O'Hara is Minneapolis police chief. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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