Second shooting in Minneapolis immigration crackdown heaps pressure on Trump
The Trump administration defended the fatal shooting of a US citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis even as video evidence contradicted their version of events.
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MINNEAPOLIS: Senior Trump administration officials on Sunday (Jan 25) defended the fatal shooting of a US citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis even as video evidence contradicted their version of events and tensions grew between local law enforcement and federal officers.
As residents visited a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in frigid temperatures and snow to mark Saturday's fatal shooting of Alex Pretti - the second shooting death by federal officers in Minneapolis this month - the Trump administration argued that Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defence.
Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large speaking on CNN's State of the Union, could not offer evidence that Pretti was trying to impede a law enforcement operation, but focused on the fact that the ICU nurse was carrying a gun, which he had a license to carry.
However, a video shared widely on social media and verified by US media showed Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing around 10 shots at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant and thrown to the ground.
The video further inflamed ongoing protests in Minneapolis against the presence of federal agents, with around 1,000 people participating in a demonstration Sunday.
After top officials described Pretti as an "assassin" who had assaulted the agents, Pretti's parents issued a statement Saturday condemning the administration's "sickening lies" about their son.
Asked Sunday what she would say to Pretti's parents, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said: "Just that I'm grieved for them."
"I truly am. I can't even imagine losing a child," she told Fox News show The Sunday Briefing.
She said more clarity would come as the investigation progresses.
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking to NBC's Meet the Press, also said an investigation was necessary to get a full understanding of the killing.
Asked if agents had already removed the pistol from Pretti when they fired on him, Blanche said: "I do not know. And nobody else knows, either. That's why we're doing an investigation."
"JOINT" PROBE
Their comments came after multiple senators from Trump's Republican Party called for a thorough probe into the killing, and for cooperation with local authorities.
"There must be a full joint federal and state investigation," Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said.
The Trump administration controversially excluded local investigators from a probe into Good's killing.
Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz posed a question directly to the president during a press briefing Sunday, asking: "What's the plan, Donald Trump?"
"What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?"
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to heavily Democratic Minneapolis for weeks, after conservative media reported on alleged fraud by Somali immigrants.
Trump has repeatedly amplified the racially tinged accusations, including on Sunday when he posted on his Truth Social platform: "Minnesota is a Criminal COVER UP of the massive Financial Fraud that has gone on!"
The city, known for its bitterly cold winters, has one of the country's highest concentrations of Somali immigrants.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pushed back against Trump's claim, telling reporters: "It's not about fraud, because if he sent people who understand forensic accounting, we'd be having a different conversation. But he's sending armed masked men."
COURT ORDER
Since Operation Metro Surge began, many residents have carried whistles to notify others of the presence of immigration agents. At the same time, sometimes violent skirmishes have broken out between the officers and protesters.
Local authorities have sued the federal government seeking a court order to suspend the operation, with a first hearing set for Monday.
Recent polling has shown voters increasingly upset with Trump's domestic immigration operations, as videos of masked agents seizing people off sidewalks - including children - and dramatic stories of US citizens being detained proliferate.
Barack and Michelle Obama on Sunday forcefully condemned Pretti's killing, saying in a statement it should be a "wake-up call" that core US values "are increasingly under assault".
The former president and first lady blasted Trump and his government as seeming "eager to escalate the situation".
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