White House Scrambles to Contain Minneapolis Fallout
U.S. Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino and deployed agents are set to withdraw from Minneapolis as soon as Tuesday, local media reported. The move follows President Donald Trump's Monday declaration that he would send White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to take command of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
SHIFTING TACTICS AMID MOUNTING SCRUTINY
Bovino has become the public face of Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota. His exit comes as outrage grows over a Border Patrol agent's fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, in Minneapolis—the second deadly encounter in weeks after Renee Good, 37, a mother of three, was killed during an ICE operation in January.
Trump held a phone conversation Monday with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Afterward, the president posted on his social media platform that Walz wanted to "work together" and that the two "seemed to be on a similar wavelength," a stark departure from his weekend attacks on the Democratic governor.
In a Sunday interview with a news agency, Trump confirmed federal authorities were reviewing the shooting. According to media, a Trump administration attorney told a federal judge Monday that investigators have secured body-camera video and additional evidence from the incident but declined to guarantee sharing materials with state investigators.
Local media obtained bystander footage showing Pretti being shoved by an officer before multiple agents swarmed him. During the altercation, he held a phone but was not observed displaying the 9mm semiautomatic pistol authorities say he was lawfully licensed to carry.
Minnesota Attorney General's Office and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office filed suit Saturday alleging federal authorities mishandled evidence collection, demanding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and affiliated agencies be prohibited from destroying or tampering with shooting-related materials.
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General and a Democrat, said the state had not received critical evidence details and demanded a comprehensive, transparent probe.
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