Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who is facing a primary challenger backed by President Trump, called for a “full joint federal and state investigation” into the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by federal agents.
Mr. Cassidy on Saturday night became the most prominent congressional Republican to condemn what was unfolding in Minneapolis, in a statement that called the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “incredibly disturbing.”
“The credibility of ICE and D.H.S. are at stake,” Mr. Cassidy said. “There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”
That is at odds with the approach of the Trump administration, which said the Department of Homeland Security would lead the investigation into the shooting and initially blocked Minnesota authorities from examining the scene of the shooting, according to a state official.
While Democrats in Congress have expressed outrage about the shooting and quickly said they could not support a spending deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, most congressional Republicans, away from Washington for the weekend, have stayed quiet.
Mr. Cassidy’s comments were all the more striking because he is fighting for his political career amid accusations that he has been insufficiently supportive of Mr. Trump. The president has backed a primary challenger to Mr. Cassidy, who voted for an impeachment conviction of the president after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Another Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, has also called for an investigation into the shooting.
Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York, the Republican chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement on Saturday night that he had requested testimony from the heads of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Mr. Garbarino did not mention Minneapolis in his statement, but said: “I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”
Catie Edmondson covers Congress for The Times.
The post G.O.P. Senator Cassidy Calls for Investigation of Fatal Minnesota Shooting appeared first on New York Times.
