Minneapolis protesters march against ICE as governor urges Trump to remove agents

Minneapolis protesters march against ICE as governor urges Trump to remove agents

Protests continued in Minneapolis and other US cities on Sunday, as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said America was at an "inflection point" and repeated calls for US President Donald Trump to remove federal immigration agents from the city.

The US president meanwhile called for the governor to "turn over all Criminal Illegal Aliens" incarcerated in state prisons for deportation.

He also demanded that Walz, alongside Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, "formally cooperate" with his administration.

Lawmakers continue to be divided over the fatal shooting by immigration agents of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, as well as his second Amendment right to bear arms.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was shot because he was "brandishing" a gun. Local authorities say the gun was legally registered, he was not brandishing it, and he was shot after the gun was removed.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told the BBC that state officers were blocked from accessing the scene of the shooting by federal agents, despite securing a search warrant.

He added that all levels of law enforcement in Minnesota have been working with federal law enforcement "for several years", and that the unfolding situation in Minnesota was hampering agencies' ability to continue such investigations.

US Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino yesterday accused O'Hara and Frey of trying to derail federal law enforcement operations.

The US justice department issued Frey, Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison a subpoena last week that alleged they conspired to impede federal immigration officers in the state, following the fatal shooting on 7 January of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Trump signaled in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday that he might be willing to eventually withdraw ICE agents from the Minneapolis area, but did not provide a time frame.

He told the outlet: "At some point we will leave. We've done, they've done a phenomenal job."

In the interview, the president added that his administration was "reviewing everything" about Pretti's death and said that it "will come out with a determination".

The Trump administration has described Pretti as a "domestic terrorist".

Pretti's family issued a statement in response to the comment saying "the sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting".

His family said he had no interaction with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets. According to AP, court records show he had no criminal record.

"Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man," his family said in the statement.

Pretti's mother, Susan Pretti, told the Associated Press her son cared immensely about the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations.

"He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land," she said.

She added: "You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it."

On Truth Social on Sunday evening Trump demanded that Walz and Frey, as well as "EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States" must "formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation's Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence".

He listed a series of requests that he said were "rooted in common sense", most notably petitioning US Congress to end sanctuary cities, which he alleged were the cause of "all these problems".

The term 'sanctuary city' is commonly used to describe places in the US that limit their assistance to federal immigration authorities.

Trump's posts followed remarks from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, where she condemned Walz as wanting chaos, and encouraging "left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers in the middle of lawful operations".

Backlash against the Trump administration's crackdown is growing, including from within the Republican party.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt told CNN that people were watching fellow Americans being shot on television and that "federal tactics and accountability" had become a growing concern for voters.

Asked whether ICE should be removed from Minnesota, Stitt said that the president needed to answer that question, but he was "getting bad advice right now".

Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said the Minneapolis shooting was "incredibly disturbing" and "the credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake."

Democrats have responded by threatening to block a key government financing package if it contains funds for the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, raising the prospect of another government shutdown.

Few Minnesotans the BBC spoke to said they supported ICE operations, but several polls suggest about half of voters nationwide support President Trump's efforts to deport those living in the US illegally.

Other polls indicate voters are split on how Trump is carrying out that crackdown on undocumented immigrants. One conducted by Politico shortly after Renee Good's death this month suggested about half of Americans felt the mass deportation campaign was too aggressive.

Sunday saw hundreds of protesters in Minneapolis brave freezing conditions to protest the shooting, as armed and masked agents used tear gas and stun grenades against them.

Protests have spread to other US cities, with people seen holding signs saying "Justice for Alex" and "abolish ICE" in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The chief executives of more than 60 Minnesota-based businesses, including 3M, Best Buy, Target, and UnitedHealth Group have also signed an open letter calling for "an immediate de-escalation of tensions" and for local and federal officials "to work together to find real solutions".

Federal agents shot and killed Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, and videos have since emerged showing a scuffle between Border Patrol agents and Pretti just before the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the agents fired in self-defence after Pretti, who they say had a handgun, resisted their attempts to disarm him.

Eyewitnesses, local officials and the victim's family have challenged that account, pointing out he had a phone in his hand, not a weapon.

O'Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, told the BBC that Pretti was a lawful gun owner with no criminal record other than traffic violations.

It is legal in Minnesota to carry a handgun in public if you have a permit.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) - which is typically aligned with Trump - has joined other US gun lobby groups in calling for a "full investigation" into the killing of Pretti.

In a statement, it said: "Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalisations and demonising law-abiding citizens."

Bovino said earlier that at the time of the shooting, ICE agents were seeking Jose Huerta Chuma during a "targeted" operation, and that Chuma's criminal history includes domestic assault, intentional infliction of bodily harm and disorderly conduct.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) has since rebutted those claims, and said that Huerta had never been in Minnesota DOC custody and public records reflected only misdemeanor-level traffic offenses from more than a decade ago.

The latest shooting follows weeks of tensions between the Minnesota authorities, federal agents and protesters who have taken to the streets to observe the agents during their anti-immigration raids.

Earlier this month, an ICE agent shot dead Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident who was taking part in such an observation.

In a statement to CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, Good's family law firm Romanucci & Blandin urged all Americans to "trust their own eyes as they interpret the horrific video" of Pretti's shooting.

Their statement went on: "It is time for a hard reset. ICE agents can leave Minneapolis. The residents of Minnesota cannot. We call for a complete and immediate end to the ICE invasion of this beautiful American city."

Trump's crackdown in Minneapolis was launched in December after some Somali immigrants were convicted in a massive fraud of state welfare programmes. The state is home to the largest community of Somali immigrants in the US.

ICE agents have the power to stop, detain and arrest people they suspect of being in the US illegally.

Source: BBC
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