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President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blasted Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey for "inciting" anti-ICE protesters, including Alex Pretti, the man fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Saturday (January 24).
“We saw a resistance in Minneapolis like we haven’t seen anywhere else in this country,” Noem said during an appearance on FOX News' The Morning Briefing on Sunday (January 25) while addressing the escalation of ICE operations in Minnesota. “In fact, encouraged by the governor at press conferences to go out and take to the streets and to resist law enforcement.
“It really is [an] irresponsibility that we haven’t seen out of someone in any other state.”
Trump also blamed Frey and Walz for "inciting insurrection" in a post shared on his Truth Social account on Saturday after the fatal shooting.
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” Trump wrote. “These sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that [have] been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States.”
Videos shared online appeared to show Pretti being taken down by multiple ICE agents and disarmed before an officer fired multiple shots during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis. The incident took place weeks after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer during a protest in the same city.
Trump acknowledged that Pretti was armed and carrying two extra magazines at the time of his death, while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claimed Pretti was a "would-be assassin" who "tried to murder federal law enforcement" and labeled him as a "domestic terrorist" via FOX News. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison demanded that a "full, impartial, and transparent investigation" be held in connection with the shooting while a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from "destroying or altering" evidence linked to the incident, Axois reports.