Trump wants ‘honest’ investigation into ‘very sad’ killing of Minneapolis protester
President Donald Trump said Tuesday a “big investigation” was underway into the killing of protester and ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“I want to see the investigation. I’m going to be watching over it, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,” the president said as he left the White House.
The comment is the latest marker of Trump’s sudden turnabout on the issue as his administration confronts growing pushback — including from some Republicans and Second Amendment advocates — on federal agents’ tactics in the second fatal shooting from the aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota.
A day earlier, the White House made an effort to distance Trump from some early comments by high-ranking administration officials who had branded Pretti as a domestic terrorist despite videos of the encounter contradicting their narrative.
Immigration agents were active Tuesday across the Twin Cities region, but it was unclear if officials had changed tactics after the shift in tone from the White House.
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Authorities release man whose case led judge to order ICE leader to appear in court, lawyer says
Federal immigration authorities have released an Ecuadorian man whose detention led the chief federal judge in Minnesota to order the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in his courtroom, the man’s attorney said Tuesday.
Attorney Graham Ojala-Barbour said the man, who is identified in court documents as “Juan T.R.,” was released in Texas. The lawyer said in an email to The Associated Press that he was notified in an email from the U.S. attorneys office in Minneapolis shortly after 1 p.m. CT that his client had been freed.
▶ Read more about Ecuadorian man’s release
Trump says Minneapolis victim’s parents’ support for him makes him feel ‘even worse’
Trump called the fatal shootings of two Americans by federal agents in Minneapolis “terrible” and said that hearing that one was the daughter of Trump supporters makes it even worse for him.
Renee Good, 37, was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. Alex Pretti, also 37, was killed on Jan. 24.
“I’m not sure about his parents but I know her parents were big Trump fans. Makes me feel bad anyway. But I mean, I guess you could say even worse,” he said.
Trump made the comments Tuesday in an interview with Fox News in Iowa, where he had flown earlier that day to speak at a rally in the Des Moines area.
Judge issues temporary order barring removal of boy, 5, and father who were detained in Minnesota
A federal judge has issued a temporary order prohibiting removal of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father whose arrest last week in Minnesota quickly become another lightning rod for America’s divisions on immigration under the Trump administration.
U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled Monday that any removal or transfer of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, is on hold while a court case proceeds.
The father and son are now at family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, near San Antonio.
