Donald Trump faults Alex Pretti for carrying gun but says he wants ‘honest’ inquiry

President Donald Trump promised a “very honourable and honest investigation” into the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis amid a growing furore over the shooting that prompted him to shake up leadership of the immigration crackdown there.

But even as Mr Trump suggested Tuesday that he may “de-escalate” the aggressive operation in Minnesota, he cast blame on Mr Pretti for carrying the legally permitted weapon that was seized from him before he was fatally shot.

“You can’t walk in with guns,” Mr Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a speech in Iowa on Tuesday. “You can’t do that,” he added before calling Mr Pretti’s death “a very unfortunate incident.”

In an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday afternoon, Mr Trump said he planned to try to turn down the temperature in Minnesota but did not offer details.

“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” he said, noting that he had dispatched his border czar, Tom Homan, to take over the operation there.

Three days after federal agents shot and killed Mr Pretti after he was restrained and disarmed of the handgun he was carrying, Mr Trump has had to reckon with a broad backlash over the deadly encounter as well as the way administration officials immediately blamed the victim, including by labelling him a “domestic terrorist” and “an assassin.”

In remarks outside the White House, Mr Trump promised he was “watching over” the investigation into Mr Pretti’s death but did not offer details.

Those that have emerged in court filings so far indicate it is limited to a “use of force” review rather than a broader inquiry that would examine whether the agents should face criminal charges.

State officials, meanwhile, have asked a judge to compel federal cooperation with their investigation.

A day after Mr Trump dispatched him to take over the on-the-ground operations in Minnesota, Mr Homan met with Gov. Tim Walz, whose office said in a statement that they had “agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue.”

The Governor’s office added that Mr Walz and Mr Homan had agreed to continue working toward the state’s goals: a swift reduction in federal forces in the state and impartial investigations into the killings of Mr Pretti and Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman fatally shot by an agent earlier this month.

As part of the operational overhaul, Mr Trump planned to pull Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has been the face of much of the administration’s enforcement efforts, out of the state, according to two federal officials.

In the Fox News interview, Mr Trump described Mr Bovino as “a pretty out there kind of guy.” He added, “In some cases it’s good; maybe it’s not good here.”

The President also pushed back on the idea that any change in approach in Minnesota was a retreat.

“I don’t think this is a pullback,” he said, while repeating conspiracy theories and hyperbolic claims that demonstrators there are “paid insurrectionists” and “paid agitators.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

— ICE chief summoned: Late Monday night, the top federal judge in Minnesota said he was summoning the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear before him Friday and explain why he should not be held in contempt of court for violating court orders arising from the crackdown. The judge, Patrick J. Schiltz, acknowledged that his summons for the ICE acting director, Todd Lyons, was “an extraordinary step” but also gave him an out: He said he would cancel the hearing if ICE quickly released an immigrant whom he said had been wrongly detained by agents.

— Second Amendment: In defending the actions of the agents, administration officials have repeatedly pointed out that Mr Pretti was armed — as Mr Trump did again Tuesday — but that argument has unnerved gun rights advocates, who have been some of the president’s staunchest political allies.

— The victim: Mr Pretti’s friends, family and colleagues denounced what they said were “sickening lies” by the Trump administration. They described Mr Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, as a happy and generous man who loved biking and walking his dog.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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