Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stressed she is just doing her job as she faces growing calls to resign following two fatal Minneapolis shootings involving federal immigration agents — including one she initially defended before backtracking.
Noem’s toned-down plea to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday comes as she faces bipartisan outcry over the fatal shootings of two American anti-ICE protesters by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“These radicals are attacking me, but I’m just doing my job,” she insisted during an interview on “Hannity.” “I’m following the law, enforcing the laws, like President Trump promised that he would do to keep people safe in this country. We’re going to continue to go after these criminals, we’re going to remove them before they have the chance to murder more Americans.”
Noem on Saturday rushed to defend Border Patrol agents when armed protester Alex Pretti was shot nearly 10 times by two federal immigration officers after he was pinned down and disarmed as tensions flared in Minneapolis.
She claimed the 37-year-old ICU nurse confronted agents, who she said were in fear of their lives, with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, causing them to open fire.
But videos from the scene showed Pretti holding only his phone when he approached the agents.
He was pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by multiple agents in the confrontation before one officer removed his legally owed Sig Sauer pistol from his waistband just seconds before gunfire erupted.
DHS investigators believe an errant round from Pretti’s pistol — after it was taken from him — may have prompted Border Patrol agents to open fire, killing him.
Noem — who blasted Pretti as a domestic terrorist trying to “kill law enforcement” — said the information she quickly provided to the public after the fatal shooting came from officers on the ground.
“I know you realize that situation was very chaotic, and that we were being relayed information from on the ground, from CBP agents and officers that were there,” she told Hannity.
“We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people and get them what we knew to be true on the ground,” the secretary continued.
“We will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and giving them all the information that they need to bring that to the conclusion and make sure that the American people know the truth of the situation and how we can go forward and continue to protect the American people.”
She then slammed lefty politicians for “pouring gasoline on what is already a difficult situation.” However, Republicans have also been questioning the aggressive actions of federal agents in Minnesota.
Pretti’s death was the second fatal shooting involving federal immigration officers in Minnesota in less than three weeks, during the Trump administration’s massive roundup of illegal migrants in the North Star State.
On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good after federal authorities said she rammed her car into the officer and labeled her a domestic terrorist.
Both shootings sparked waves of protests across the state, prompting local and national elected officials to call for President Trump to pull ICE out of Minnesota to defuse the chaos.
The White House has defended Noem, who reportedly met with Trump for two hours in the Oval Office on Monday evening along with Corey Lewdowski, her top aide at DHS.
But amid mounting tensions, Trump sent “border czar” Tom Homan to Minnesota, putting Noem on the sidelines and leaving her future in the administration uncertain.
Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, an aggressive, hard-charging leader, was ordered home from his position in the state.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller — who also maligned Pretti as an “assassin” after the deadly confrontation — sheepishly admitted Tuesday that border agents “may not have been following” proper protocol.
Miller claimed that his initial disparaging remarks about Pretti “was based on reports from CBP on the ground.”
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