WASHINGTON – Today, during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) pressed ICE leadership on its agents’ dangerous use of force, weapons mishandling, unprofessional conduct, and rushing training timelines.

Watch Senator Gallego’s questioning HERE.

See additional photos of the hearing HERE.

Read excerpts of Senator Gallego’s questioning below:

Senator Gallego began his questioning by playing a video of ICE agents murdering Renee Good in Minnesota, as well as instances of weapons mishandling, use of nonlethal force, and unprofessional conduct by ICE agents on the field.

Gallego: “ICE code of conduct says that all ICE employees must behave professionally and must be a model for all to follow. [Todd Lyons, ICE Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director], yes or no, is the behavior you just witnessed a model of what you think agents should follow?”

Gallego: “After Renee Good was shot, the agent called her a “fucking bitch” on camera. Yes or no, is this how your agents are trained to act?”  

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott: “No, sir.”  

Gallego: “Is that professional in that regard?”

Gallego also highlighted ICE agents’ expedited training timeline, which places agents with weapons on the ground after just weeks of academy training.

Gallego: “So the [on the job training program] is happening in places like Minnesota. So somebody who has probably never handled a weapon after 42 days is going to be inserted into Minnesota  — into a high stress environment?”

ICE Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Todd Lyons: “They could, yes.”

Gallego: “That explains a lot.”

Gallego: “In one of the videos you saw earlier, there was a CBP agent that is hitting Mr. Pretti in the face with a tear gas canisters. Without actually talking about that specific event, where in any training manual have you been taught […] that you should use something like that as a weapon against a civilian?”

Mr. Lyons: “I haven’t.” […]

Gallego: “Why are you not supposed to use a pistol to pistol whip someone or a canister of tear-gassed while you are restraining somebody? Do you know from your training why they told you not to do that?”

Mr. Lyons: “Why don’t we do that? You are not going to pistol whip an individual for fear that the weapon is going to go off.”

Gallego: “Exactly. What we have seen consistently is a lot of CBP agents that are clearly either violating or putting other people in danger or themselves in danger. The fact they are doing that tells me there is a command structure element that allows that  to happen because we consistently see it all the time on video.”

Gallego also called out the agent murdered Renee Good, who was recording on his personal phone while handling a firearm.

Gallego: “If you look at the Renee Good shooting, why is the agent holding a camera phone and a weapon at the same time? […] In what world, in what training between all of your training in weapons handling have you ever been taught [that] the appropriate use of holding a weapon [is] at the same time holding a camera phone? Did you have any training on that from your time in ICE, law enforcement, or the CBP?”

Mr. Lyons: “No, I haven’t.”