The White House responded Monday to the New Hampshire Episcopal bishop who urged his clergy to finalize their wills and get their affairs in order and prepare for a "new era of martyrdom" at a vigil for ICE shooting victim Renee Good.
Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeldof the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire also criticized the "horror unleashed in Minneapolis" and said people of Christian faith should not fear death in a Jan. 9 speech,a video of which has since gone viral.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an emailed response to a question from NBC News about Hirschfeld's address: "No one should follow advice encouraging them to commit crimes. Anyone who interferes with federal law enforcement operations is committing a crime and will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
The Trump administration has staunchly defended thefatal Jan. 7 shooting of Goodby Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. They insist Ross fired in self-defense against a motorist who ran him over — even thoughcellphone videoof the shooting showed Good turning the steering wheel away from Ross as she began to drive and Ross still standing after he shot into her SUV numerous times.
Good's killing has sparked numerous anti-ICE protests across Minneapolis and harsh criticism from local leaders like Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who are now beinginvestigated by the Justice Departmentfor allegedly conspiring to impede federal immigration agents.
Hirschfeld addressed Good's shooting at a Jan. 9 vigil in Concord, New Hampshire.
Responding to the White House, he said, "In no way have I, or will I, advocate, support, or encourage, criminal behavior, especially acts of violence."
"We are speaking about peaceful, non-violent resistance against those who without warrant or justification threaten physical injury, or even death," he said in an email to NBC News. "Non-violence and love, as Jesus himself practiced and lived, should be the way for us to settle all differences in a free society."
During his speech, Hirschfeld criticized "those who call themselves Christians" and who are close to the Trump administration and "who tell us the way the world works is by force."
He also mentioned several historical clergy members who risked their lives to protect others, including New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was shot and killed by an Alabama sheriff's deputy while he was shielding a young Black civil rights activist in 1965.
"I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness," Hirschfeld said. "And I've asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable."
Hirschfeld said people of Christian faith should not fear death, but he did not call for responding to the ICE raids with violence.
"Those of us who are ready to build a new world, we also have to be prepared," he said. "If we truly want to live without fear, we cannot fear even death itself, my friends."
As for Good, Hirschfeld said, "I believe God is raising Renee Good to glory right now."
Good, 37, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen, was behind the wheel of an SUV on a snowy residential street when she was shot and killed by Ross.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Ross was treated in a hospital for injuries he sustained in the incident and was released soon after.
But emergency services logs obtained by NBC News say Ross was first taken to a federal building. A DHS official claimed that Ross sustained internal bleeding to the torso after the incident but did not elaborate on the extent of his injuries.
