Noem denies use of chemical agents in Minnesota protests, then shifts after video

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said on CBS’s Face the Nation that her department had not used pepper spray and similar tactics limited by a judge’s order in Minnesota protests, then altered her account after being shown video that showed chemical agents deployed. Judge Kate M.

Menendez of the Federal District Court in Minnesota wrote that chemical agents had been used against protesters on at least four separate occasions and called the evidence of their use “uncontroverted.” The injunction she issued bars agents from using “crowd dispersal tools” in retaliation for protected speech and from stopping or detaining protesters in vehicles who were not “forcibly obstructing or interfering with” agents.

The suit that led to the order was filed by activists in December, before an agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7. After being pressed about the video, Ms. Noem said protesters were to blame and that federal officers “only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating.” A homeland security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, did not comment on Ms.

Noem’s initial denial and blamed protesters for tampering with agents’ vehicles and attacking officers with fireworks and automobiles. Ms. Noem also said “every single individual” arrested had broken the law and asserted that 70 percent had committed or been charged with violent crimes; the department has repeatedly said 70 percent of those detained had been charged or convicted of a crime.

Key Topics

Politics, Kristi Noem, Homeland Security, Kate M. Menendez, Minnesota, Renee Good