Washington [US], January 26: Officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration defended on Sunday the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis, even as video evidence contradicted their version of events and as 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, Trump administration officials stated that Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defense.
That account was at odds with videos recorded by bystanders.
Pretti is the second American to be fatally shot by federal immigration officers this month in Minneapolis, where Trump, a Republican, has deployed thousands of armed and masked agents in a deportation effort with little precedent.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, again called on Trump to pull federal agents out of the state, which has asked a federal judge to restrain what it says are unconstitutional excesses in Trump's surge.
"The victims are Border Patrol agents," Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, told CNN's "State of the Union" program.
That official line, echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other members of the administration, drew outrage from local Democratic leaders and law enforcement and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, who pointed to the bystander videos that show all Pretti had in his hands was a cellphone before agents grappled him to the ground and ultimately shot him at close range.
Federal agents over the past few weeks have been met by countless angry residents protesting in the city's icy streets, some of them blowing whistles.
Thousands of people again filled the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday to protest against the surge in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, chanting and waving signs saying: "ICE OUT!"
HOLDING A PHONE, NOT A GUN
Videos of Saturday's killing verified by Reuters show Pretti, 37, holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.
Pretti can be seen filming while a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground.
Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper sprays him.
Several agents then take hold of Pretti, who struggles with them, and force him onto his hands and knees.
As the agents pin Pretti down, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about a gun.
Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a handgun from Pretti's waistband area and stepping away from the group with it.
Moments later, an officer points his gun at Pretti's back and fires four shots in quick succession.
More shots are heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.
Darius Reeves, the former head of ICE's field office in Baltimore, told Reuters that federal agents' apparent lack of communication was troubling.
"It's clear no one is communicating to me, based on my observation of how that team responded," Reeves said.
Minnesota officials say Pretti had a valid state permit to carry a concealed gun in public, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was a constitutional right in 2022.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
