President Donald Trump stated that his administration is “going to ease tensions a bit” in Minnesota, following the second lethal shooting of a US citizen by federal immigration officers in that area.
“The bottom line is, it was awful. Both incidents were awful,” he remarked during a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
Earlier in January, immigration officials shot Renee Good fatally, and then Alex Pretti was killed after being detained by border agents this past weekend.
Pretti’s death sparked renewed local demonstrations and widespread public outrage, prompting criticism from legislators on both sides of the aisle. Trump’s comments indicate that his administration is reconsidering its operations in Minnesota.
While addressing other journalists before a rally in Iowa Tuesday night, Trump expressed that he considered the killing of Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a veterans’ healthcare facility, “a very regrettable event”.
When questioned by reporters about whether he concurred with the portrayal of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” Trump responded: “I haven’t heard that.”
He then remarked: “He shouldn’t have been armed.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated shortly after the shooting that Pretti “wasn’t present to protest peacefully, he was there to incite violence,” accusing him of “domestic terrorism.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also claimed the agents acted in self-defense, asserting that Pretti resisted efforts to disarm him.
Noem indicated that Pretti was shot because he was “wielding” a firearm during an altercation, but local authorities maintained that the firearm was legally registered and that Pretti was shot after the gun was taken away.
Nevertheless, eyewitnesses and local officials have disputed that narrative, asserting that he had a phone in his hand, not a firearm.
A preliminary report created by Customs and Border Protection also seems to contradict the original DHS version of events. It states that two of its agents discharged their firearms at Pretti.
It fails to mention that Pretti was reaching for his weapon, as per a copy of the report reviewed by the BBC’s US affiliate CBS News.
On Monday, the DHS removed the head of the Minnesota operation, Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, from the state. The department announced it was sending the White House’s border czar, Tom Homan, to oversee the situation there.
Homan shared on social media on Tuesday that he had conferred with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and local law enforcement officials.
Pretti’s death, occurring two weeks after the lethal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, infuriated local inhabitants and ignited renewed demands from state and city officials for the Trump administration to withdraw its 3,000 immigration agents and personnel from the area.
In his Fox News interview, Trump seemed to support the Minnesota operation, stating “we removed thousands of hardened criminals” from the state, “therefore they have impressive crime statistics.”
“Everything is going well; we have Tom Homan there now,” he added, before indicating that the administration would “de-escalate”.
Stephen Miller, a senior White House advisor involved in the administration’s deportation strategy, informed CNN that the White House “had given specific instructions to DHS that the additional personnel sent to Minnesota for force protection should be utilized for executing fugitive operations to establish a physical separation between the arrest teams and the disruptors”.
“We are assessing why the [US Customs and Border Patrol] team may not have adhered to that protocol,” Miller stated in his communication to CNN.
Some Republican leaders and legislators have called for an inquiry into Pretti’s death, including Vermont Governor Phil Scott and US Senator Pete Ricketts from Nebraska.
“The nation witnessed a shocking incident this weekend,” Ricketts wrote on X. While he reiterated his “support for ICE funding remains unchanged,” Ricketts expressed his expectation for “a prioritized, transparent inquiry into this event”.
A federal judge has prevented DHS from destroying or altering evidence.
In his address at the Iowa rally on Tuesday night, which focused on his economic policies, Trump did not delve deeply into the ongoing situation in Minnesota but broadly discussed his immigration crackdown, referencing a Harvard Harris poll from December indicating that 80% of Americans back his administration’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.
