President Donald Trump said his administration was “going to de-escalate a little bit” in Minnesota, after the second fatal shooting of a US citizen by federal immigration officers there.”Bottom line, it was terrible. Both of them were terrible,” he said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.In early January Renee Good was fatally shot by an immigration officer, followed by Alex Pretti, who was killed after being stopped by border agents this past weekend. Pretti’s death reignited local protests and public outcry across the country, and led to criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Trump’s remarks are the latest sign his administration is taking a step back on its operations in Minnesota.On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pulled the Minnesota mission’s leader and figurehead, Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, from the state. DHS said it was deploying the White House’s border tsar, Tom Homan, to take over there and Homan was set to meet with local officials this week. On Tuesday, Homan posted on social media that he had met with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and local law enforcement officials.Speaking to other reporters ahead of a rally in Iowa Tuesday night, Trump said he viewed the killing of Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a veterans’ hospital, as “a very unfortunate incident”.Asked by reporters about whether he agreed with characterisations of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” Trump said: “I haven’t heard that.”Trump then added: “He shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was shot because he was “brandishing” a gun during a confrontation, but local authorities said the gun was legally registered and that Pretti was shot after the firearm was removed.DHS has also said the agents fired in self …
