Trump Avoids Responsibility for Border Patrol Officer Who Killed Minnesotan

President Donald Trump declined to specify whether the federal officer who fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minnesota acted appropriately and stated that the administration was reviewing the incident.

When pressed repeatedly about the shooting, Trump did not directly answer questions regarding the officer’s actions. During a telephone interview, Trump said, “We’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.”

The president criticized Pretti for carrying what he described as a “very dangerous gun,” noting it “goes off when people don’t know it.”

Trump also signaled that his administration would eventually withdraw immigration enforcement officials from the Minneapolis area. “At some point we will leave,” he said, adding that the current team had performed “a phenomenal job” before leaving “a different group of people there for the financial fraud.”

Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was filming Border Patrol agents on a Minneapolis street Saturday morning when he was shot. The Department of Homeland Security reported Pretti had a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and “violently resisted” disarmament until officers fired defensive shots.

However, bystander footage contradicts this account, showing an officer pulling a handgun away from Pretti before firing multiple rounds.

Pretti died at the scene.