President Donald Trump on Saturday alleged that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey are “inciting insurrection” with their harsh anti-immigration enforcement rhetoric. Earlier in the day, an armed man was shot dead while engaging in a physical altercation with officers.
Other administration officials have also voiced their strong support for federal law enforcement after officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old white male and Minneapolis resident who Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino said appeared to want to “massacre law enforcement.” Pretti was armed with a 9mm handgun and two magazines of ammunition.
“What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!”
The Minnesota Democrats have suggested that in order to regain peace, federal officers need to leave the city. Officers have faced a massive uptick in attacks coinciding with the rise of the “abolish ICE” movement, leading to violent escalations.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Saturday criticized the White House’s decision to deploy ICE to Minneapolis, and wrote on X, “Get ICE out of Minnesota NOW.”
In response, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said, “A domestic terrorist tried to assassinate federal law enforcement and this is your response? You and the state’s entire Democrat leadership team have been flaming the flames of insurrection for the singular purpose of stopping the deportation of illegals who invaded the country.”
Other federal officials also supported the Border Patrol agents’ actions, including Bovino.
“This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” he said in a press conference on Saturday.
The Border Patrol union also weighed in, posting on X, “We have pleaded with and warned the media and the politicians that their irresponsible, hate-filled and false rhetoric is going to get people unnecessarily hurt, or worse, killed when they portray our agents and officers as the aggressors.”
Trump suggested on Truth Social that the opposition to ICE and other federal immigration agencies’ presence in Minneapolis is an attempt by Democrats to distract from Minnesota’s large-scale fraud scandal.
“AMONG OTHER THINGS, THIS IS A “COVER UP” FOR THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT HAVE BEEN STOLEN FROM THE ONCE GREAT STATE (BUT SOON TO BE GREAT AGAIN!) OF MINNESOTA! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Border Patrol agents shot Pretti after he attempted to intervene in an arrest while armed, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Viewers of footage of the shooting have debated on social media whether Pretti was attempting to use his weapon during the physical altercation leading up to the shooting.
The reference to local leaders “inciting insurrection” is not the first time the president and his allies have mentioned the term. On other occasions related to actions against federal immigration enforcement, such as the protests after the Renee Good shooting in early January, Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.
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“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in early January.
The act, signed by President Thomas Jefferson, allows the president to use the military domestically in the event of an insurrection. The term “insurrection” is not defined in the U.S. code and is open to interpretation.