Amna Nawaz
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WATCH: Noem says she didn’t blame Stephen Miller for her Pretti characterization after his killing
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March 3, 2026
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2:58Now PlayingSen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday about the statements she made after Alex Pretti’s killing by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Kennedy recalled Noem’s remarks in a news conference shortly after the Jan. 24 shooting death, where she accused Pretti of committing an “act of domestic terrorism.”
As she did earlier in the hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Noem said she was getting “information from a chaotic scene on the ground and relaying information to the American people.”
The senator said that what was noteworthy in that moment was that she had blamed Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, for those statements.
“No, sir, I did not,” she said, adding that that information came from a news article with anonymous sources. “I never said that at all.”
Kennedy read back her quote, saying she said it on record. The quote he read came from an Axios Jan. 27 report, which relied on an anonymous source.
“Are you denying that you said that?” the senator asked.
“Sir, I'm not going to speak to that situation,” Noem said. “No one has heard me say that.”
Noem’s agency has been roiled by turmoil and public outcry in recent days. The shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis prompted weeks of protests in the Twin Cities area. Trump officials, including Noem, accused the victims – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – of committing acts of “domestic terrorism.”
But bystander videos challenged the administration’s narrative of the high-profile shooting deaths, and documented DHS deploying other aggressive tactics. Greater scrutiny by Democrats into the ways the Trump administration has been carrying out his mass deportation agenda led to a lapse in the agency’s funding and partial government shutdown.
Congressional lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to fund the department, though there are areas of bipartisan agreement, such as a body camera requirement for immigration enforcement agents.
Noem will also field questions Wednesday from the House Judiciary Committee.
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