Trump admin faces humiliation over ‘assassin’ remark on Alex Pretti Minneapolis shooting, 'You're lying'

Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, is under fire for his comments on the killing of Alex Pretti.

Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, is under fire for his comments on the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in Minneapolis. Pretti is the second person to be fatally shot by a federal agent in the city this month, after the shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

After Pretti was shot dead, Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said at a news conference that the agent had "fired defensive shots.” (AP)

Miller insisted in a social media post that the man who was killed, later identified as Pretti, was a “would-be assassin.” He wrote, “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.”

Miller’s remark was made in response to an X post from the Democrats’ account that included a video of the fatal shooting of Pretti. The Democrats captioned the video, “ICE agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis this morning. Get ICE out of Minnesota NOW.”

A community note under Miller’s post reads, “Videos of the encounter shows that the gun was never drawn. The weapon remains in the victim's holster until one agent removes it. After the victim is disarmed, a second agent shoots him repeatedly.”

Miller received huge backlash in the comment section of his post for his choice of words to describe Pretti. “Everything you say is a lie,” Rep. Jim McGovern wrote. Ed Krassenstein said, “So now concealed-carry makes someone a “would-be assassin?” It’s crazy how quickly your ideologies change in order to get on your knees for Donald Trump.”

“All of the video evidence shows you're lying,” one user wrote, while another said, “Community notes doing the heavy lifting for republicans in Congress”. One user said, “Absolute bul*****. He was disarmed way before the execution took place. The amount of disassociation it must take to hide behind your lies and religion should be studied.”

What the DHS said about Alex Pretti's fatal shooting

Officials said that Pretti was a white US citizen and a Minneapolis resident who was a lawful gun owner. His only known interaction with law enforcement was related to parking tickets, the BBC reported.

Talking about the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said that a federal officer shot a man dead in Minneapolis at 9:05 local time (15:05 GMT) on Saturday, January 24. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Border Patrol officers were carrying out a "targeted operation" on an "illegal alien wanted for violent assault" when an individual approached them with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

"The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted," McLaughlin said. "Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene."

Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino later said at a news conference that the agent had "fired defensive shots.”