Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday said that some federal immigration agents were to leave the city in Minnesota yesterday, as US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory note after nationwide outrage over the killings of two US citizens.
Frey said in a post on social media platform X that “some federal agents” will begin leaving the city, but did not provide specifics of how many.
“I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go,” he added.
Photo: AFP
Saying he spoke with Trump on Monday, Frey added: “The president agreed the present situation can’t continue.”
The White House was scrambling as video of the latest shooting went viral, prompting street protests, criticism from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and, increasingly, from within Trump’s Republican Party.
In a marked change of tone, Trump said he held a “very good” talk with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat whom he has repeatedly accused of corruption.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed.”
She also expressed sorrow over the death of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who was gunned down on Saturday at point blank range by immigration officers, while protesting in Minneapolis.
Earlier, top Trump officials had branded Pretti, 37, a “domestic terrorist.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday accused the Trump administration of pushing a “flat-out insane” narrative.
At a demonstration in Minneapolis on Monday, locals expressed relief that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were leaving.
“It’s a vindication to some degree. We have a lot of fear around what kind of violence and reprisals might come as they leave,” protester Kyle Wagner said.
“Our neighborhoods and communities have been brutalized by them, so any decrease in the numbers and the severity is just a huge relief to the community that’s been suffering for months now,” Wagner said.
Jasmine Nelson, who was also at the demonstration, said she was inspired by locals coming together to protest the killings.
“It’s really beautiful to see everyone get together like this and fight against these injustices,” she said.
Trump said he had sent his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis on Monday, saying that he “will report directly to me.”
US media have also reported that controversial US Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino would be leaving Minneapolis — but the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has vehemently denied he has been “relieved of his duties,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted on X.
McLaughlin added that Bovino “is a key part of the President’s team and a great American.”
Despite his recent moves, there was no sign Trump was retreating from the broader, hardline policy of sending heavily armed, masked and unidentified ICE agents into Democratic-run cities.
There remain “hundreds of thousands” of “the worst illegal aliens” left to deport, Leavitt said.
Opening a new front in the crisis, a federal judge in Minneapolis on Monday heard arguments about whether the deployment of federal officers violates the state of Minnesota’s sovereignty.
In a separate hearing, a judge was considering a request to force federal officials to preserve evidence in the killing of Pretti, saying she would rule quickly.
Pressure is also mounting in Congress, where Democrats are threatening to hold up funding for the US government unless immigration enforcement agencies are reformed.
Monday’s shift in White House messaging came as Republicans began to express alarm, including House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Republican Chris Madel sent shockwaves when he dropped out of the running for Minnesota’s upcoming governor race to replace Walz, saying he could not remain a member of a party inflicting “retribution on the citizens of our state.”
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