Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton issued pointed calls Sunday for America to stand up and defend their values after the second killing of a citizen in Minneapolis by immigration agents that Donald Trump blamed on Democratic "chaos."
The Trump administration has faced intensifying pressure over its mass immigration crackdown, particularly after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Saturday while scuffling with him on an icy roadway.
File photo: Alex Pretti
That incident came less than three weeks after an immigration officer fired on Renee Good, also 37, killing her in her car in the same Midwestern city.
Trump administration officials quickly claimed Pretti had intended to harm the federal agents -- as they did after Good's death -- pointing to a pistol they said was discovered on him.
However, video shared widely on social media and verified by US media showed Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with chemical irritant and thrown to the ground.
Trump provocatively attributed the deaths to Minnesota's Democratic elected officials, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, writing on his Truth Social platform: "Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States are REFUSING to cooperate with ICE."
"Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos," he added.
After top officials described Pretti as an "assassin" who had assaulted the agents, Pretti's parents issued a statement Saturday condemning the administration's "sickening lies" about their son.
With tensions high, protesters gathered Sunday in Minneapolis, denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One person held a cardboard sign that read: "Be Pretti, be Good."
The double tragedies have stirred outrage, including from two of Trump's Democratic presidential predecessors. Barack and Michelle Obama on Sunday said in a statement that Pretti's shooting should be a "wake-up call" that core US values "are increasingly under assault."
Hours later Bill Clinton delivered a fierce indictment of the current administration, saying peaceful protesters "have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed."
"All of this is unacceptable," Clinton said in a statement as he urged Americans to "stand up, speak out."
"If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back."
- 'We're reviewing everything' -
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking to NBC's "Meet the Press," said an investigation was necessary.
While administration officials have defended the officer who shot Pretti, Trump in a brief Sunday interview with the Wall Street Journal declined twice to say whether the officer had acted appropriately.
"We're looking, we're reviewing everything and will come out with a determination," the president told the paper.
Multiple senators from Trump's Republican Party have called for a thorough probe into the killing, and for cooperation with local authorities.
Trump's administration controversially excluded local investigators from a probe into Good's death.
Walz posed a question directly to the president during a press briefing Sunday, asking: "What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?"
On Sunday, business leaders from 60 corporations headquartered in Minnesota -- including retailer Target, food giant General Mills and several professional sports franchises -- signed an open letter "calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions" and for authorities to work together.
- Voters upset -
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to heavily Democratic Minneapolis for weeks, after conservative media reported on alleged fraud by Somali immigrants, which Trump has repeatedly amplified.
The city, known for its bitterly cold winters, has one of the country's highest concentrations of Somali immigrants.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pushed back against Trump's claim, telling reporters "it's not about fraud, because if he sent people who understand forensic accounting, we'd be having a different conversation. But he's sending armed masked men."
Since "Operation Metro Surge" began, many residents have carried whistles to notify others of the presence of immigration agents, while sometimes violent skirmishes have broken out between the officers and protesters.
Recent polling has shown voters increasingly upset with Trump's domestic immigration operations, as videos of masked agents seizing people off sidewalks -- including children -- proliferate.
