Walz: Trump agrees to look at reducing agents in ICE surge, ensuring independent BCA probes
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Gov. Tim Walz’s office said President Donald Trump agreed during a Monday call to look at reducing federal agent numbers in Minnesota and ensuring the state investigators can conduct independent probes around the killings of two Minnesotans by federal officers.
On social media, Trump it was “a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength” on the federal immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities, although he did not mention looking at reducing officers or ensuring independent state investigations.
“I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future,” Trump said in his post.
Homan, the federal “border czar” is expected to arrive in Minnesota Monday to oversee the federal operation here.
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Trump’s remarks appeared to be a shift in the administration’s rhetoric attacking Minnesota officials, law enforcement and protesters. Trump and administration officials have repeatedly berated local officials and protesters and refereed to Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, the two Minnesotans shot and killed by federal agents as “domestic terrorists.”
Gregory Bovino, commander at large for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, claimed Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse, approached agents armed with a gun on Saturday and that an agent fired defensive shots to kill Pretti as he was being subdued. He speculated that Pretti was there to kill agents.
Video and eyewitness testimony dispute that account. Walz called the federal version of events “nonsense and lies.”
CNN on Monday reported that Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis Tuesday.
The statement from Walz’s office Monday said Trump had also agreed to discuss “working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
Walz “reminded” Trump that the Minnesota Department of Corrections already notifies Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person in its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen, the statement said, adding, “There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody.”
— MPR News staff
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