Texas Republican congressman Troy Nehls has ignited a firestorm online after responding to the fatal ICE shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by branding anticipated protesters as “rats” and accusing the political left of craving “destruction and chaos.”
The comments, made during a televised interview less than 24 hours after ICE agents shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good as she attempted to drive away from officers, have drawn sharp condemnation, not only for their rhetoric, but for what critics describe as a thinly veiled endorsement of an aggressive federal response already roiling the northern state.
Nehls, who represents Texas’s 22nd congressional district, briefly suggested that ICE operations in Minneapolis might “pause” as tensions rise and protests unfold. But the pause, such as it was, quickly collapsed under the weight of his broader message: that demonstrations would inevitably devolve into violence because, in his words, “this is what the left wants.”
“They want destruction and chaos,” Nehls said, invoking the 2020 murder of George Floyd as proof that protests over police violence are inherently unruly. He went further, referring to protesters as “rats coming out tonight,” language that many viewers interpreted as dehumanizing and dangerous.
Citizens online weren’t happy with his analysis.
“Calling normal people protesting fascism ‘rats’ is straight out of the fascist playbook,” one Reddit user wrote.
The remarks landed as Minneapolis reels from the shooting itself. Video of the incident shows ICE agents approaching Good’s vehicle as it sat in the street. As she attempted to drive away, an agent fired multiple shots through the windshield. Federal officials claim Good tried to run over officers, a characterization forcefully disputed by city leaders, eyewitnesses, and Governor Tim Walz, who accused the Trump administration of “gaslighting” the public. The FBI is now investigating.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the facts, Nehls leaned fully into the administration’s framing, arguing that ICE and even the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should “go in full force,” particularly in light of unproven fraud allegations tied to Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota. Those claims have already been used by the White House to justify withholding federal childcare funds from the state.
To critics, the contradiction was obvious: Nehls floated de-escalation with one breath, then called for escalation with the next.
“Not exactly calling for a pause,” one commenter dryly observed.
Much of the online backlash fixated not just on Nehls’ words, but on his presentation. Appearing on camera with a cigar, a large gold ring, and flanked by security, Nehls was compared repeatedly to a cartoon villain.
“He looks and talks like a caricature of a corrupt politician,” one highly upvoted comment read. Others likened him to a mob boss, the villain from Space Jam, or “Boss Hogg.” Several users resurrected past controversies surrounding Nehls, including stolen-valor accusations and his firing from a Texas police department decades ago.
But beneath the mockery ran a more serious current of alarm. Multiple commenters drew parallels between Nehls’ “rats” comment and historic patterns of political dehumanization.
“There is a lot of psychology involved in dehumanisation,” one user wrote. “That’s how you justify what comes next.”
The timing only heightened the tension. The shooting occurred just a mile from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020, an event that sparked global protests and fundamentally reshaped the national conversation on policing. Minneapolis schools have since canceled classes due to safety concerns, and demonstrations have spread to other major cities.
Nehls’s remarks feel more like provocation from a Texas congressman fanning the flames of a crisis hundreds of miles away.
