周二，一名抗议者在参议院司法委员会听证会上打断了国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）的开场白，大喊“废除移民与海关执法局（ICE）”和“克里斯蒂·诺姆，你应该感到羞耻！”，随后被强行带离房间，在听证会上被护送出去。
“我是前联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）员工，”在诺姆准备开始向小组委员会发言时，这位扰乱秩序者说道，补充道：“你玷污了我们的机构。”
“联邦紧急事务管理局员工……应该应对灾难，而不是移民与海关执法局特工，”她说。
视频录像显示，该扰乱秩序者在被护送离开听证会时似乎绊倒或摔倒在地。
此次冲突发生在参议院司法委员会关于国土安全部（DHS）监督的听证会上——这是一场备受期待的听证会，此前移民官员于1月致命枪杀了Renee Good和Alex Pretti。
数周以来，国会在如何推进国土安全部的全面拨款问题上陷入僵局，民主党人列出了该机构需要采取的一系列步骤，之后才会同意全面拨款。共和党人和诺姆警告称，关闭（政府）将对国土安全部旗下众多联邦部门和机构造成严重影响——包括特勤局、运输安全管理局、联邦紧急事务管理局和美国海岸警卫队。
在扰乱秩序者被带离后，诺姆继续进行开场白，未受影响。不过，在房间内有几群人和个人被护送出去后，她确实评论了抗议者的总体行为。
“当人们无法接受边境真相时，就会发生这种事，”诺姆说。“我们不会被恐吓。”
近几个月来，国土安全部对明尼苏达州骚乱的处理使诺姆和国土安全部移民官员受到新的审视，促使一些民主党人——以及两名参议院共和党人，北卡罗来纳州的汤姆·蒂利斯（Thom Tillis）和阿拉斯加州的丽莎·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski）——呼吁她辞职。
参议院司法委员会主席、爱荷华州共和党人查克·格拉斯利（Chuck Grassley）此前强调，跨党派议员打算利用周二的听证会重点讨论暴力问题。
“让我明确一点，一条生命的逝去就太多了，”他告诉福克斯新闻。
“但在执法过程中，官员不应受到威胁或伤害，第一修正案保护的行为与非法阻挠之间存在明显区别，”他补充道。“在我看来，我认为移民执法和尊严并非相互排斥。”
国土安全部未立即回复福克斯新闻数字频道就相关扰乱秩序者身份的核实请求。
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.
“This is what happens when people can’t handle the truth about the border,” Noem said. “We will not be intimidated.”
DHS’ handling of the Minnesota unrest has placed Noem and DHS’ immigration officers under fresh scrutiny in recent months, prompting some Democrats — and two 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.
“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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