The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal is pushing back on the federal government’s account of the shooting death of Alex Pretti during a confrontation with immigration authorities in Minneapolis over the weekend.
The Journal, in an editorial published Sunday, called the incident “the worst … to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle for the Trump Presidency.”
“Videos of an event aren’t always definitive, but this is how it looks to us,” the newspaper wrote. “Pretti attempted, foolishly, to assist a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by agents. Multiple agents then tackled Pretti, and he had a phone in one hand as he lay on the ground. An agent discovered a concealed gun on Pretti, and disarmed him. An agent then shot Pretti, and multiple shots followed.”
Top White House official Stephen Miller called Pretti “a domestic terrorist,” while federal immigration leaders have defended his shooting death.
“He was a nurse without a criminal record,” the Journal wrote, pushing back on Miller. “Pretti made a tragic mistake by interfering with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, but that warranted arrest, not a death sentence. The agents may say they felt threatened, but it’s worth noting the comments over the weekend by police around the country who say that this isn’t how they conduct law enforcement.”