Trump says he will ‘de-escalate’ in Minneapolis after fatal shootings backlash

Minneapolis - US President Donald Trump said on Jan 27 he would “de-escalate a little bit” in Minneapolis after the fatal shootings of two civilians fuelled a storm of criticism over his

immigration crackdown.

Mr Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan met officials in the city as the Republican attempted damage control after

the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti

by immigration agents

on Jan 24.

“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” Mr Trump told Fox News after days of tensions following the shooting of Mr Pretti, while adding that it was not a “pullback”.

He said that Mr Homan – the top US border security official who brings a less confrontational communication style – met Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Jan 27.

The US President told reporters that he rejected the “assassin” label used by a top aide to describe protester Pretti. “I want a very honourable and honest investigation,” he said.

Yet Mr Trump did not hold back on criticising Mr Pretti for carrying a licensed firearm that was taken off him before he was shot.

“I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines,” the President said.

‘Pretty out there’

Mr Frey said in a statement after meeting Mr Homan that he discussed the “serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis” and that the city “will not enforce federal immigration laws”.

Former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Waltz said he called for “impartial investigations” into shootings by federal agents in the city as well as a “significant reduction” in federal forces in the state.

Mr Pretti’s death has sparked outrage nationwide.

Democratic former president Joe Biden on Jan 27 said the situation “betrays our most basic values as Americans”. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have also spoken out.

Mr Pretti, shot multiple times after being knocked to the ground, was the second US citizen killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis in January, turning the city into ground zero of national tensions over Mr Trump’s mass deportation policies.

Protester Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, was

shot by an agent at point blank range in her car

on Jan 7.

The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified and heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents grabbed people suspected of violating immigration laws off the streets.

Despite multiple videos showing that Mr Pretti posed no threat, top officials initially claimed he had intended to kill federal agents.

Mr Trump backed his under-fire Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, who described Mr Pretti as a “domestic terrorist”, saying she would not step down and was doing a “very good job”.

But he was less supportive of Mr Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official famed for revelling in aggressive, televised immigration crackdowns, who had also played up the narrative that Mr Pretti had posed a threat.

“Bovino’s very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy. And, in some cases, that’s good, maybe it wasn’t good here,” Mr Trump told Fox.

‘Sickened’

Concern over the violence and the attempt to blame Mr Pretti for his death quickly spread to Washington.

Republican Senator Rand Paul said on Jan 27 that agents involved in the shooting should be put on administrative leave, later adding that the heads of ICE, Border Patrol and Citizenship and Immigration Services would testify before Congress in February.

Centrist Democratic Senator John Fetterman said the “grossly incompetent” Noem should be fired.

The turmoil could even result in a fresh US government shutdown, with Democrats threatening to block approval of routine spending Bills up for votes in the Senate later this week.

“The whole community is just sickened by all this,” said 68-year-old retiree Stephen McLaughlin in Minneapolis. “The aim of the government is to terrorise citizens; it’s really frightening.” AFP