Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino has defended the killing of Alex Pretti after ICE officials fatally shot him on Saturday.
In a CNN interview with Dana Bash on Sunday, the ICE boss appeared to defend the agents involved in the 37-year-old’s death, suggesting that the officers were the victims in the situation.
His comments come just a day after the federal immigration officers shot dead the ICU nurse in Minneapolis, prompting outrage within the community, with some branding the agents as ‘cowards’.
However, Bovino suggested that the true victims in the shooting were his ICE agents, while Mr Pretti ‘put himself in that situation’.
‘The victim, the victims are the border patrol agents,’ Bovino said, stunning interviewers.
Footage of Mr Pretti, who was legally carrying a firearm at the time, appeared to show him draw his gun, which was backed up by eyewitness accounts, according to the New York Times and Guardian.
When asked by CNN whether Mr Pretti pulled his gun in front of officers, Bovino failed to provide a clear answer.
‘We do know that the suspect did bring a weapon, a loaded nine-millimetre high-capacity handgun, to a riot,’ Bovino said.
The border patrol commander did not clarify if Mr Pretti was in possession of the weapon.
He said an investigation into ‘what happened in the intervening moment’ has been launched, insisting that ‘those questions will be answered soon enough’.
The interviewer asked Bovino whether he felt there was any evidence of Mr Pretti assaulting any law enforcement officers, to which Bovino claimed his ‘help’ at the scene was not needed.
‘What our officers are faced with here in Minneapolis are chaotic, very difficult and violent situations,’ Bovino said before blaming Mr Pretti for ‘bringing a loaded weapon to a riot’.
The ICE boss also suggested Mr Pretti’s Second Amendment rights, which protect the right of Americans to keep and bear arms, were null after Bovino believed he was a threat to law enforcement officers.
‘We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct, and impede law enforcement officers and, most especially, when you mean to do that beforehand,’ Bovino said.
Donald Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem labelled Mr Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist’, while Bovino suggested he was plotting to ‘massacre law enforcement’.
An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, telling them to go home.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said police believe Mr Pretti was a ‘lawful gun owner with a permit to carry’.
He appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement.
Mr Pretti was a nurse at the local Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Minneapolis.
He was a former alumnus at the University of Minnesota, studying biology, society and the environment. After a brief stint working as a scientist, he returned to school and became a nurse.
His father, Michael Pretti, told AP his son was involved in protests because he ‘cared’ about people.
‘He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests,’ Michael said.
The latest shooting happened amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the January 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good.
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