Trump battles Minneapolis fallout as agents who shot Alex Pretti put on leave
Minneapolis tensions deepen again as the US president accuses mayor of ‘playing with fire’
The Trump administration said on Wednesday that two immigration agents involved in the fatal shooting of a civilian in Minneapolis had been placed on leave, as the US president slammed the city’s mayor despite a promise to de-escalate the situation.
The officers have been on leave - a move US officials said was “standard protocol” - since Saturday, when Alex Pretti was shot multiple times after being forced to the ground by camouflaged officers in a scuffle captured on video.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in Minneapolis, the focal point for tensions over his hardline immigration crackdown.
Yet on Wednesday, the 79-year-old Republican attacked the mayor of Minneapolis, saying that his refusal to cooperate with federal authorities on rooting out suspected illegal immigrants was “a very serious violation of the law”.
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Mayor Jacob Frey is “playing with fire,” Trump said on social media.