Scalise Blames Minneapolis Democrats for “Chaos” After Alex Pretti Shooting

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on Sunday defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s credibility while blaming Minneapolis’ Democratic leaders for what he called “chaos” surrounding a major federal deployment following the shooting death of Alex Pretti.

In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Scalise stated he did not support calls from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a fellow Louisiana lawmaker, for a joint federal-state investigation into the incident.

“ICE is doing an incredibly hard job,” Scalise said, pointing to repeated failures by city leadership as the cause of the chaos. “ICE operates in many cities, Margaret, and you don’t have these kinds of incidents in any other city but Minneapolis,” he told host Margaret Brennan, adding that he wished “yesterday didn’t happen.”

When asked about the scale of federal presence—nearly 3,000 agents deployed in Minneapolis, significantly more than in cities like New Orleans—Scalise cited Minneapolis officials’ past decisions to cut police funding and their failure to assist ICE.

He claimed that federal agents have “arrested thousands of violent criminals” in Minneapolis, which he identified as a key factor in declining crime. Scalise also linked ICE’s actions to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, asserting the president was elected to remove criminals from communities.

Repeating his claim that “416,000 criminals have been arrested by ICE just in the last year,” Scalise insisted this work improved community safety. When questioned about polling showing more than half of Americans believe ICE makes communities less safe and nearly two-thirds dislike the president’s deportation approach, he countered that most Americans would support deporting violent criminals.

Additionally, Scalise condemned those who “interfere with law enforcement,” labeling such actions a felony. On Attorney General Pam Bondi’s letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz regarding potential termination of federal resources, Scalise noted he had not read it but emphasized Congress is investigating “tens of billions of dollars” in potential fraud in Minnesota and advancing federal election integrity legislation.