ICE operations continued in the the Twin Cities on Sunday, as did the demonstrations against them and the death of Pretti in Minnesota and around the country. No new evidence emerged to support the Trump administration’s claims about Pretti or what happened to him, and the outrage over his death and the ongoing siege of Minneapolis continued to grow. Here are some of the key developments, if you missed them:
Trump said “at some point we will leave” Minneapolis
During an conversation with The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey, Trump seemed to signal that he was aware of how badly the aftermath was going:
Trump didn’t directly answer when asked twice whether the officer who shot Alex Pretti had done the right thing. Pressed further, the president said, “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.” …
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump added. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Trump also signaled a willingness to eventually withdraw immigration enforcement officials from the Minneapolis area.
“At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” he said. Trump didn’t offer a time frame for when agents might depart.
Minnesota CEOs spoke out
The leaders of 60 businesses in the state, including major U.S. corporations like 3M, Best Buy, General Mills, Target, UnitedHeath, and U.S. Bancorp, all signed a public letter calling “for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.” (This is, of course, the kind of thing that typically gets President Trump’s attention.)
Bovino confirmed that the CBP agents who shot Pretti had been reassigned
The CBP commander did not come close to suggesting they may have done anything wrong and even called them “the real victims” of the incident, but he said they would not longer be working in Minneapolis “for their safety.”
Multiple Republican lawmakers joined the calls for a full investigation
By the end of the day, that included six GOP senators and a number of other Republican legislators and officials, suggesting a growing rift with the administration — though most of the calls also included attacks on Minnesota and Minneapolis leaders.
