Our second rundown for the day…..
Two Border Patrol agents fired at Alex Pretti during Saturday’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis, according to a statement sent to some members of Congress by the Department of Homeland Security that provides the first official timeline of the deadly encounter that has sent shock waves across the country.
The statement, based on a preliminary review, makes no mention of Pretti brandishing a weapon. That contradicts administration comments in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation, when senior officials described the 37-year-old as a direct threat to federal officers.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander then overseeing the Minneapolis operation, suggested that Pretti had wanted to “massacre” officers, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said he had “committed an act of domestic terrorism.”
Tuesday’s statement said that as agents attempted to take Pretti into custody, he resisted and “a struggle ensued.” One agent yelled multiple times that Pretti had a gun, and then two agents fired their weapons. Pretti was shot repeatedly and declared dead half an hour later at Hennepin County Medical Center, the statement noted.
By Tuesday, the Trump administration was backing away from some of its inflammatory rhetoric about the shooting and had replaced Bovino with border czar Tom Homan, who arrived in Minneapolis to lead the massive immigration enforcement operation underway in the city.
Homan met Tuesday with state and local officials, part of an apparent effort to lower tensions in a city reeling from the killings of Pretti and Renée Good, another American shot by federal officers during an encounter this month. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) described his conversation with Homan as “productive” but reiterated his call for Operation Metro Surge to end as quickly as possible….
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“I think the whole thing is terrible,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News, adding: “I don’t like the fact that he was carrying a gun that was fully loaded. … Bottom line, it was terrible.”
Trump also told reporters that replacing Bovino was not a pullback. Bovino is “a pretty out-there kind of guy,” he said. “And in some cases, that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good here.”
Stephen Miller, Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff, said Tuesday that the administration is evaluating whether Border Patrol agents “may not have been following” official protocol before the shooting.
The White House had “provided clear guidance” that “the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors,” Miller said.
While administration officials initially called Pretti a threat, aWashington Post analysis of footage of the incident found that agents had secured a handgun from Pretti and had restrained him on the ground before he was shot multiple times in the back. Local authorities have said he was carrying the weapon lawfully.
The statement sent by DHS agencies to members of Congress and reviewed by The Post does not detail when Pretti was disarmed.
Trump privately showed his dissatisfaction with the situation in Minnesota involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol during an extended meeting with Noem late Monday, according to a person familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) on Tuesday described Noem as incompetent and called on her to resign. If she does not step down, Trump should fire her, he said….
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) on Tuesday also said that Lyons and other top federal immigration enforcement leaders should appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he leads.
“Congress has a duty to oversee how billions in taxpayer dollars are being spent to secure the border, enforce the law, and protect the American people,” Paul wrote on X….
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Ecuador says ICE agent tried to enter its Minneapolis consulate
An ICE agent on Tuesday attempted to forcibly enter Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis, according to the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The big picture: Federal agents, under international law, are generally not allowed to enter an embassy or consulate without permission of the consul or ambassador.
- The ministry said on X that consular staff prevented the officer from entering the premises and activated emergency protocols.
- A note of protest was “immediately” submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, asking that similar acts not be repeated at any offices in the country, per the post.
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Federal Judge Blocks Deportation Of 5-Year-Old Minneapolis Boy And Father For Now
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the potential deportation of a preschoolerand his father who went viral last week after federal immigration agents detained them in a Minneapolis suburb.
Agents had taken Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias before apprehending his 5-year-old son Liam outside their home. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Conejo was an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador that said he wanted Liam to stay with him.
The move drew swift public backlash after a photo of the incident showed Liam in a checkered jacket, red Spider-Man backpack and blue hat with floppy bunny ears. Both father and son were taken from Minnesota to an immigration detention facility in Texas for families.
In response to a lawsuit the father filed against federal officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the judge ruled Monday that “any possible or anticipated removal or transfer of” Conejo and his son be immediately stayed for now. Federal officials are also blocked from transferring the two out of the judge’s district during litigation, the ruling added….
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Man Is Wounded After Exchanging Fire With Border Patrol in Arizona
An Arizona man was in critical condition after exchanging gunfire with a U.S. Border Patrol agent and shooting at a federal helicopter on Tuesday in Arizona near the Mexican border, the authorities said.
Border Patrol agents were working to apprehend a male suspect in an “active alien smuggling matter” when he shot at a federal helicopter, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Phoenix field office, said during a news conference late Tuesday afternoon. Federal agents returned fire and shot the suspect, Mr. Janke said. No federal agents were injured.
Teams from the Santa Rita Fire District of Green Valley, Ariz., and American Medical Response, which provides emergency medical services, were dispatched to the reported shooting around milepost 15 on West Arivaca Road, just after 7:30 a.m., the fire district said in an emailed statement.
Crews found “one patient in custody and in critical condition,” and provided medical care before the patient was airlifted to a regional trauma center, the fire district said. The federal agent involved in the shooting also rendered aid for the man, Mr. Janke said…..
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