The two federal immigration agents involved in the shooting of Alex Pretti have been placed on administrative leave, per standard agency protocol, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.
The development came a day after the Department of Homeland Security provided the first official timeline of the deadly encounter in a statement sent to some members of Congress. The document, which was based on preliminary review, made no mention of Pretti brandishing a weapon, contradicting Trump administration comments in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when senior officials described Pretti as a direct threat to federal agents and officers.
The Trump administration has begun to back away from some of its inflammatory rhetoric about the shooting and replaced Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander then overseeing the Minneapolis operation, with border czar Tom Homan, to lead the massive immigration enforcement operation underway in the city.
“I think the whole thing is terrible,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday when asked about events in Minnesota over the past week and Pretti’s killing. “I don’t like the fact that he was carrying a gun that was fully loaded. … Bottom line, it was terrible.”
The shift in the White House’s tone on Pretti’s killing comes as a growing number of Republicans challenge the Trump administration’s handling of the incident. It also reflects concern that without a significant course correction, Republicans are likely to lose control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff, called Pretti an “assassin” in the immediate aftermath of his killing. On Tuesday, Miller said the administration was evaluating whether Customs and Border Protection “may not have been following” official protocol before the shooting.
A woman who said she filmed Pretti’s fatal shooting on Saturday refuted DHS’s initial claims that Pretti had brandished a weapon or was acting in a threatening manner before he was shot.
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, Stella Carlson, who estimated she was no more than 10 feet from Pretti when he was fatally shot, said he was at the time filming immigration enforcement personnel and trying to direct traffic.
Carlson said she got out of her car and started filming Pretti, whom she had never met, as he directed traffic. She said Pretti was acting “calm” and “definitely without threat,” and that she did not see him brandish a weapon. “If I had, I maybe wouldn’t have stayed so close” to him, she said.
Tensions continued to escalate in Minneapolis on Tuesday as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), a frequent target of the Trump administration, was attacked during a town hall meeting and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to enter the Ecuadorian Consulate before being turned away.
A man sprayed an unknown liquid in Omar’s direction with a syringe, police said, shortly after Omar called on DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem to “resign or face impeachment.” The man, later identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, was immediately tackled and arrested, and Omar later said she was “ok.”
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