White House blames Minnesota Democrats after federal agents kill another protester

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 27, 2026 01:52 IST

The White House on Monday blamed Democratic leaders in Minnesota for the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a federal immigration officer, keeping up a sharp political line even as President Donald Trump called for calm and said he wanted the facts to come out.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the shooting and killing of Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti “occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota.”

She also said that President Donald Trump does not want to see people getting hurt or killed on the streets but will not step back efforts to deport "violent criminal illegal aliens" from Minnesota. Her remarks came after Trump said he had a productive phone call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in what appeared to be an effort to lower tensions following the weekend violence.

Leavitt accused Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats of fuelling confrontation with federal officers. “They were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers,” she said at the White House briefing.

She went further, saying elected Democrats had “used their platforms to encourage Left-Wing agitators to stalk, record, confront, and obstruct federal officers who were just trying to lawfully perform their duties.” That, she added, “has created dangerous situations threatening both these officers and the general public and Minnesotans alike.”

The administration has argued that resistance to Trump’s immigration agenda led to the shootings and killings of Pretti and Renee Good, following aggressive enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the state.

WHITE HOUSE DRAWS LINE ON RHETORIC

At the same time, Leavitt sought to distance Trump from harsher language used by other officials. Asked about deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, who described Pretti on social media as “an assassin” without offering evidence, Leavitt said Trump had not used such words.

“This has obviously been a very fluid and fast-moving situation throughout the weekend,” she said, adding that Trump “has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead.”

Pressed on whether Miller would apologise to Pretti’s family, Leavitt again pointed to Trump’s stance. “Nobody here at the White House, including the President of the United States, wants to see Americans hurt and losing their lives,” she said.

Leavitt also said she had not heard Trump describe Pretti as a domestic terrorist, marking a clear split with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has publicly used that label.

FEDERAL RESPONSE IN MINNESOTA

She said Trump wants to get the facts of the investigation before drawing conclusions. Asked whether Noem had made a mistake that prompted Trump to send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, Leavitt said no.

Noem, she noted, oversees the entire Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA, which is responding to a severe winter storm affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans. Homan, she said, was in a position to “drop everything and go to Minnesota” to continue talks with state and local officials “at the request of the president.”

Leavitt said Homan would now be “the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis” during continued federal immigration operations, replacing Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino as the public face of the mission. She added that Bovino would continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol nationwide.

The White House has not committed to releasing body camera footage from the officers involved in the shooting. Leavitt said the administration is in discussions with members of Congress about possible requirements for federal immigration officers to wear body cameras.

She also defended the use of force in certain situations. “While Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations,” Leavitt said. When an armed person confronts law enforcement, she added, “you are raising the assumption of risk.”

Family members have said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Minnesota but was not known to carry it. The Department of Homeland Security has said he was shot after approaching Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, without saying whether it was brandished.

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