In a moment of rare clarity from a major-city law enforcement leader, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling delivered a blunt, reality-based defense of federal immigration agents following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good—drawing a sharp contrast with the reckless rhetoric coming from progressive politicians.
As protests and political grandstanding continue to swirl around the incident, Snelling cut through the noise and laid out what should be obvious to any adult living in the real world: surrounding, boxing in, or ramming law enforcement vehicles is not “peaceful protest.” It is an ambush—and it justifies a lethal response.
“Let me make this clear,” Snelling said unequivocally. “Federal agents—ICE, HSI—are officers. They are law enforcement agents. If you box them in with vehicles, it is reasonable for them to believe that they are being ambushed.”
That statement alone demolishes the Left’s preferred narrative that federal agents are somehow aggressors simply for enforcing the law. Snelling went further, explaining that such tactics are inherently dangerous and unlawful. “This could end in a deadly situation, and it’s reasonable for them to use force based on those conditions,” he warned. “Do not box in any law enforcement officer. You are breaking the law when you do that.”
Unlike activist mayors and cable-news commentators, Snelling focused on facts, law, and common sense. He issued a direct warning to anti-ICE agitators who believe tailing or confronting officers is some kind of moral crusade.
“You are putting yourself in danger following law enforcement agents around,” he said. “The question is, why? What do you plan on doing?”
Snelling didn’t mince words about what happens when protesters escalate from shouting slogans to using vehicles as weapons. “If you ram any vehicle—especially one that contains law enforcement agents—this is considered deadly force,” he explained. “Deadly force is anything that can cause great bodily harm or death. When you plow into a vehicle that contains law enforcement agents, you are using deadly force, and they can use deadly force in response to stop you.”
That is not political spin. That is settled law.
Snelling also rejected the dangerous idea—now common on the radical Left—that emotions or political grievances somehow excuse criminal behavior. “We cannot become a society where we just decide to take everything into our own hands and start to commit crimes against law enforcement,” he said flatly. “It is a crime.”
“You may not like what they’re doing,” he added, “but that does not mean that you get to commit a crime, especially one that could lead to deadly force.”
Perhaps most importantly, Snelling reaffirmed that Chicago police will not engage in selective law enforcement or sabotage federal operations to appease activists. “We do not interfere with the duties and responsibilities of federal agents,” he said.
That position puts him directly at odds with Chicago’s far-left mayor, Brandon Johnson, who has taken to attacking ICE as “Trump’s lawless, racist force” and demanding that agents leave communities altogether. Johnson’s rhetoric may play well with activist crowds, but it undermines public safety and puts officers—local and federal—at risk.
Snelling’s remarks were a reminder that, beneath the political theatrics, there are still leaders in law enforcement willing to say the obvious: attacking police is a crime, vehicles can be deadly weapons, and the law applies equally—no matter how loudly someone protests.
