White House backtracks initial claims about Alex Pretti after intense backlash | Trump administration

White House officials have quickly sought to distance themselves from initial portrayals of Donald Trump and senior officials of the man fatally shot by federal authorities in Minnesota as a gunman as they face a deepening backlash after video footage was widely seen to disprove his claims.

The move comes as Trump advisers realized that searing depictions of the man named Alex Pretti, who reportedly had a license to carry a gun, turned the murder into an even greater political liability for the president.

Over the weekend, senior administration officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, called the victim “a domestic terrorist trying to assassinate law enforcement,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said accused him of committing a crime “Definition of domestic terrorism”.

The characterizations were clouded by video footage showing Pretti being shot in the back nearly 10 times after being tackled to the ground and disarmed by a group of U.S. Border Patrol agents he was filming.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sidestepped questions about the statements against Pretti at Monday’s briefing and insisted the administration would not comment until the outcome of multiple investigations into the shooting.

“I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti that way,” Leavitt said. “But I heard the president say he wanted to let the facts and the investigation proceed on their own.”

Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche also attempted to push back on behalf of the administration, telling Fox News: “I don’t think anyone thought they were comparing what happened on Saturday to the legal definition of domestic terrorism.”

The positions that developed in the White House were notable for how quickly they changed and how much the administration responded to a sudden freefall across Washington, especially among Republicans on Capitol Hill, in support of ICE and U.S. border patrol tactics.

Trump also appeared to be looking for a way out following his earlier posts on Truth Social blaming Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Democrats for Pretti’s death. a Real Social post This indicated that Pretti planned to use his gun against federal agents.

In a new announcement on Monday, Trump announced a “very good call” He said he and Walz met and were “on the same page” about how to proceed with immigration enforcement in the state.

Walz’s office said in a statement that Trump had agreed to withdraw federal agents from Minnesota and committed to ensuring state investigators could launch their own investigations rather than relying solely on the Department of Homeland Security’s internal investigations.

“The President agreed to meet with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) can conduct an independent investigation as it normally does,” the statement said.

“The President also agreed to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota and work more coordinated with the state on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”

Walz’s push for a state investigation comes after the BCA complained over the weekend that they were denied access to the shooting scene by federal agents and were unable to collect evidence even after they returned and received a court order.

Trump also announced that he would send “border czar” Tom Homan to oversee the operation in Minneapolis, replacing Gregory Bovino, the US border patrol official in charge. The move represents a rejection of what Bovino reported was Noem, who has been at odds with Homan for months.

Still, Leavitt was careful not to directly contradict figures like Miller and Noem in his briefing, suggesting the blame for Pretti’s shooting lies with Walz and Democrats.

“This tragedy occurred as a result of weeks of deliberate and hostile resistance from Democratic leaders,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt’s tightrope walking came to light when administration officials said privately that they viewed the attack as an inadvertent mistake by agents who feared a possible unintentional discharge of Pretti’s gun after it was taken from him.

But he underscored the danger of rushing to blame the victim and defend agents before the investigation is complete.

The administration’s initial response to Pretti’s shooting was similar to the killing by federal agents of another Minneapolis resident, 37-year-old protester Renee Nicole Good, who was shot in the front seat of an agent’s car as she passed him.

Trump, who initially doubled down on his accusation that Good was trying to run down the manager, said last week that it was a tragedy after learning that Good’s father was a Trump supporter. “You know, I felt terrible when the woman was shot,” he said.