Montana Viewpoint: Noem set the example for ICE

Jim Elliott

I was going to write a tongue in cheek article about how Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s mind works and how that influences the field operations of the ICE agents which her agency oversees. That was up until this week when they shot a man in the back when he was on the ground.

Yes, he had a weapon. A weapon which he was entitled to carry under his Second Amendment rights. He had a Minnesota permit to carry a concealed weapon. As far as can be told, he did not draw the weapon. The ICE agents disarmed him. And then shot him. In the back.

I support the President’s stated goals of deporting the “worst of the worst”. I support law enforcement agencies in carrying out that directive. I support the use of force when it is warranted. I do not support trigger happy law enforcement officers who abuse their authority because they supposedly have immunity from prosecution.

On the other hand, citizen protesters who heckle officers are asking for trouble. If the police have a responsibility to restrain their emotions when carrying out arrests, the protesters also have a responsibility to not elevate the tension by yelling at them.

So, back to the point of my original article which compared Noem’s method of disciplining dogs and goats for “bad behavior” by executing them. In a book about making tough choices Noem wrote about her dog “Cricket” which she was training as a bird dog. On her first outing Cricket went wild and scattered the pheasants. Noem was embarrassed by the dog but seemingly let the incident pass.

Then on the same day she and the dog visited a neighbor’s farm, and the dog began killing chickens. This enraged Noem so she took the dog to a gravel pit and shot it. “I hated that dog,” she said. She might have added that she was unable to keep it under her control. Then, she remembered a billy goat that also offended her because it smelled, was obnoxious, and aggressive towards people. In my experience, that is pretty normal behavior for a billy—especially the smell. So she fetches the goat and stakes him in the same gravel pit, shoots—and misses with her only shell. She then goes to get more ammunition and dispatches the goat which is still tied to a stake.

Noem tells this story to show that she can be tough—to sideline her emotions when an unpleasant job needs to be done. I know what she is talking about, I’ve had to do similar things. I admire people who make tough choices like that— to steel themselves in the face of an unpleasant task. I don’t admire people who brag about it. I don’t admire people who kill an animal because they did not train it properly. I do not admire people who kill an animal simply because it stinks. These character traits of Noem’s are reflected in the way her organization is run.

Her officers have been given free rein to terrorize innocent people—innocent United States citizens. In Noem’s mind people who object to the tactics that ICE uses are fair game for condemnation. People who protest too much are “domestic terrorists” and deserve what they get.

I don’t buy it. Noem needs to hold her organization to the same standards that she wanted her dog to follow, to not terrorize the people, to not kill for the thrill of killing. She needed to have trained the dog better. She needs to demand that her troops follow established law enforcement procedure.

Montana Viewpoint has appeared in weekly and online newspapers across Montana for over 30 years. Jim Elliott served sixteen years in the Montana Legislature as a state representative and state senator. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.