White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a scathing rebuke of Minnesota politicians and the mainstream media during her first press briefing following the fatal CBP-involved shooting of an armed leftist who was impeding law enforcement operations in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Border Patrol fatally shot a man, identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, during a struggle on Saturday morning after the suspect pulled his gun on agents, sparking further violence and chaos in Minneapolis.
Anti-ICE rioters immediately began clashing with ICE and setting fires as law enforcement deployed crowd control measures following Pretti’s death. Thousands of anti-ICE rioters established an “autonomous zone” after overwhelming Minneapolis police and driving them out of the area.
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Pretti’s death also comes amid tensions following the shooting death of Renee Good after she tried to ram federal agents with her vehicle.
Leavitt on Monday blasted Democrat politicians for causing the circumstances surrounding both deaths, while highlighting the deaths of Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungary, and Rachel Morin, as well as a recent incident where a Mexican criminal illegal alien with a lengthy criminal record was arrested for throwing a baseball-sized rock at a school bus and nearly killing an 8-year-old third-grade girl.
“Let’s be clear about the circumstances which led to that moment on Saturday,” Leavitt said. “This tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota. For weeks, Governor Walz and the Mayor, Jacob Frey, and other elected Democrats were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers, who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal Illegal aliens from our streets: Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers, and gang members. Governor Walz and Mayor Frey have shamefully blocked local and state police from cooperating with ICE, actively inhibiting efforts to arrest violent criminals.”
She then took aim at the Biden Regime and the corrupt, biased mainstream media that allowed Democrats to funnel an invasion into our country with impunity. “Former President Joe Biden and the Democrats opened America’s borders for four years, inviting tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to flood into our country, among them violent criminals who terrorized American communities and have inflicted devastating, permanent pain and harm on law-abiding Americans and their families. Yet, we never saw outrage from Democrats or their allies in the liberal media over these horrifying crimes against US citizens,” Leavitt told reporters before highlighting some of the deaths of innocent Americans. “The pain of American Angel families was ignored and dismissed because it undermined the Democrat narrative.”
Leavitt further reiterated President Trump’s list of demands for Democratic officials and calls for Congress to immediately pass anti-sanctuary city legislation, which he published in a blistering statement on Sunday. Following the President’s conversation with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz earlier, Leavitt said, the White House is calling on Walz to “do the right thing and continue to work with President Trump to keep the American people safe.”
“The open borders agenda of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and the Democrats was already on the ballot on November 5, 2024, and it was resoundingly rejected. President Trump will never back down from his promise to deport violent criminal illegal aliens and make America Safe Again, and he welcomes all cooperation in that effort,” Leavitt continued.
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Transcript:
LEAVITT: I would also like to address the chaotic scenes in Minnesota over the weekend. Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets. This includes Renee Good, Alex Pretti, the brave men and women of federal law enforcement, and the many Americans who have been victimized at the hands of illegal alien criminals. Saturday’s shooting remains under active investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI. The Customs and Border Protection is also conducting their own internal review. As President Trump said yesterday, the administration is reviewing everything with respect to the shooting, and we will let that investigation play out. But let’s be clear about the circumstances which led to that moment on Saturday.
This tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota. For weeks, Governor Walz and the Mayor, Jacob Frey, and other elected Democrats were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers, who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal Illegal aliens from our streets: Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers and gang members. Governor Walz and Mayor Frey have shamefully blocked local and state police from cooperating with ICE, actively inhibiting efforts to arrest violent criminals. They have also used their platforms to encourage left wing agitators to stalk, record, confront, and obstruct Federal officers, who are just trying to lawfully perform their duties, which has created dangerous situations threatening both these officers and the general public and Minnesotans alike.
This is precisely what unfolded in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. Obstructing federal law enforcement and inciting violence against officers is wrong and illegal. This used to be a universally accepted position in the United States. Amid the hysteria, we must remember how we got here to this moment today and what this Democrat opposition is about. Former President Joe Biden and the Democrats opened America’s borders for four years, inviting tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to flood into our country, among them violent criminals who terrorized American communities and have inflicted devastating, permanent pain and harm on law abiding Americans and their families. Yet, we never saw outrage from Democrats or their allies in the liberal media over these horrifying crimes against US citizens.
The pain of American Angel families was ignored and dismissed because it undermined the Democrat narrative. Innocent Americans like Jocelyn Nungary, Laken Riley, and Rachel Morin are just a few of the many victims savagely murdered by illegal alien criminals. Earlier this month, an illegal alien from Mexico with a long criminal history came into our country under Joe Biden’s administration, threw a baseball sized stone at a school bus carrying children in New Jersey, and fractured the skull of an eight-year-old innocent child. President Trump promised accountability to these American families by securing the border, deporting every illegal alien who has committed crimes, especially and most importantly, violent crimes. Nearly 80 million Americans voted for him to deliver on that very promise, and he did. As the duly elected president, the president is fulfilling the will of the people by arresting and removing these threats from our country in cities from Los Angeles, to New York, and yes, Minneapolis.
Yet, Democrat leaders in Minnesota, with sanctuary city policies, have actively defied federal immigration law and the will of the people, and as a result of that defiance, two Minnesotans have now tragically lost their lives on the streets of Tim Walz’s state. It is President Trump’s hope and wish and demand for the resistance and chaos to end today. That’s why President Trump spoke with Governor Walz directly this morning, and he has outlined a clear and simple path to restoring law and order in Minnesota. Number one, Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and all Democrat leaders should turn over all criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails to federal authorities, along with any illegal aliens with active warrants or known criminal histories for immediate deportation. Number two, state and local law enforcement must agree to turn over all illegal aliens who are arrested by local police. And then, thirdly, local police must assist federal law enforcement in apprehending and detaining illegal aliens who are wanted for crime, especially violent crimes.
If Governor Walz and Mayor Frey implement these common sense cooperative measures, that I will add have already been implemented in nearly every single other state across the country, Customs and Border Patrol will not be needed to support ICE on the ground in Minnesota. ICE and local law enforcement can peacefully work together, as they are effectively doing in so many other states and jurisdictions. Additionally, President Trump is calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass legislation ending sanctuary cities once and for all. American cities should be safe sanctuaries for law abiding citizens only, not for dangerous illegal alien criminals, who broke our nation’s laws and do not belong here. We hope Governor Walz will continue— will do the right thing and continue to work with President Trump to keep the American people safe, following their call this morning.
Americans overwhelmingly want exactly what President Trump is delivering: Strong borders and strict immigration enforcement against the worst illegal aliens, of which there are still hundreds of thousands to deport from the interior of our country. The most peaceful way to carry out this vital public safety mission is for Republicans and Democrats to do it together and for state and local law enforcement to work together with federal law enforcement. We want to let cops be cops. You wouldn’t know this continues to be a very popular policy position from the biased media coverage over the course of the last few days, but polling shows huge support for this exact thing President Trump is calling for. More than 80% of Americans favor deporting illegal aliens convicted of violent crimes. A country unable to deport criminals, who enter it illegally, is no country at all. The open borders agenda of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and the Democrats was already on the ballot on November 5, 2024, and it was resoundingly rejected. President Trump will never back down from his promise to deport violent criminal illegal aliens and make America Safe Again, and he welcomes all cooperation in that effort.
As the Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump announced earlier that he spoke with Tim Walz and that Walz had agreed to work with his administration, amid the chaos and rioting in Minnesota.
MORE:
JUST IN: Trump Says Tim Walz Called Him Ahead of Tom Homan’s Visit to Minneapolis – “It was a Very Good Call, and We, Actually, Seemed to be on a Similar Wavelength”
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