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A protester was escorted out of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing after she interrupted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s opening remarks on Tuesday, shouting “Abolish ICE,” and “Kristi Noem, you should be ashamed of yourself!” before being forcibly removed from the room.
“I’m a former FEMA employee,” the heckler said as Noem was slated to begin addressing the panel, adding: “You have disgraced our agency.”
“FEMA employees … should be responding to disasters, not ICE agents,” she said.
The heckler appeared to trip or fall to the ground as she was being escorted from the hearing, as could be seen in video footage of the exchange.
The exchange occurred during a Senate Judiciary Committee DHS oversight hearing — a long-awaited hearing that comes after the fatal January shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officials.
Congress has for weeks remained deadlocked over how to proceed with fully funding DHS, after Democrats outlined a series of steps the agency would need to take before it would agree to fully fund the agency. Republicans and Noem have warned the shutdown has knockdown effects on myriad federal departments and agencies housed under DHS’s sprawling umbrella — among them, the Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, FEMA and U.S. Coast Guard.
After the heckler was removed, Noem continued with her opening remarks, unfazed, though she did comment on the general behavior of protesters later on after several groups and individuals were escorted from the room.
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“This is what happens when people can’t handle the truth about the border,” Noem said. “We will not be intimidated.”
DHS’s handling of the Minnesota unrest has placed Noem and DHS’s immigration officers under fresh scrutiny in recent months, prompting some Democrats — and two outgoing Senate Republicans, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — to call for her resignation.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, previously stressed that lawmakers from across the aisle intend to use Tuesday’s hearing to focus on the violence.
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“Let me be clear, one death is too many,” he told Fox News.
“But officers should never be threatened or harmed while enforcing our laws, and there is a clear difference between the conduct protected by the First Amendment and unlawful obstruction,” he added. “From my perspective, I believe immigration enforcement and dignity aren’t mutually exclusive.”
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for confirmation on the identity of the heckler in question.
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