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A growing number of Republicans are questioning or criticizing the Trump administration’s response to the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.
The criticism has extended beyond the handful of Republicans who are known for periodically differing from President Trump. Some Trump allies are also among those questioning immigration agents’ tactics or the Department of Homeland Security’s handling of the shooting. At minimum, they are calling for an investigation into Pretti’s shooting.
GOP lawmakers accuse Trump administration of rushing to judgment
Some Republicans have chafed at the fact that top Trump administration officials almost immediately argued the shooting was justified and accused Pretti of threatening federal agents.
Hours after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged Pretti “approached” Border Patrol agents with a gun and “violently resisted” after officers tried to disarm him. But videos show Pretti was holding up a cellphone, not his gun, when he was approached by agents. Pretti was being held on the ground when an officer appeared to remove a gun from Pretti’s waistband just moments before another agent fired the first shot.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti a “would-be assassin” and a “domestic terrorist,” without offering any evidence, and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino accused Pretti of trying to “massacre law enforcement.” Police have said Pretti was a legal gun owner with a permit to carry. He had no criminal record.
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said on his podcast that the Trump administration could improve “the tone with which they’re describing this.”
“Escalating the rhetoric doesn’t help, and it actually loses credibility,” the senator said on Monday’s episode of “Verdict with Ted Cruz.” “And so I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy and to say, we don’t want anyone, anyone’s lives, to be lost, and the politicians who are pouring gasoline on this fire, they need to stop.”
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah specifically criticized Noem.
“I disagree with Secretary Noem’s premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence,” Curtis wrote on X, calling for a “transparent, independent investigation” and for “those responsible” to be “held accountable.”
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said administration officials rushing to judgment and trying to “shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”
Focus on Pretti’s gun frustrates some Republicans
A few Trump administration officials have highlighted the fact that Pretti was apparently carrying a handgun before he was shot — drawing pushback from gun rights groups and their traditional GOP allies in Congress.
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, argued on X that law enforcement is often “legally justified” in shooting someone who approaches with a gun. And FBI Director Kash Patel said on Fox News that “no one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines.”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky suggested the FBI was “adopting every leftist gun-banner talking point” and said Essayli may not be fit for the job.
“Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government,” Massie said.
Essayli’s comments were also criticized by the National Rifle Association, which called them “dangerous and wrong.”
Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, said he also supports “a full and impartial investigation” into Pretti’s death, and pointed specifically to gun rights.
“His family, law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment right and the trust of the American people deserve a fair process,” he said.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote, seemingly in response to the shooting: “Your Second Amendment rights don’t disappear when you exercise your other rights. The Constitution is crystal clear: ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.'”
Shooting described as “shocking” and “disturbing”
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called Pretti’s killing “shocking” and said it should “raise serious questions” about “the adequacy of immigration-enforcement training and the instructions officers are given on carrying out their mission.”
Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed primary challenge this year, wrote on X: “The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.”
Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska called the shooting a “horrifying situation.”
“My support for funding ICE remains the same. Enforcing our immigration laws makes our streets safer. It also protects our national security. But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble,” said Ricketts. “I expect a prioritized, transparent investigation into this incident.”
And GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said he’s “troubled by the events that have unfolded.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt called Pretti’s death a “real tragedy” in an interview on CNN. He argued most Americans want Mr. Trump to address immigration, but urged the administration to define its “endgame,” which he said can’t be to “deport every single non-U.S. citizen.”
“I think the death of Americans, what we’re seeing on TV, it’s causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability,” he said. “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now.”
When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was asked on a talk radio show about ICE’s rocky approval ratings, the Trump-allied governor said the White House should “recalibrate” and “maybe work from a different direction.”
He said immigration agencies should “go about their job in a more structured way to make sure that they are going to remove these people without causing all the kinds of problems and fighting in communities that they are experiencing right now.”
Chris Madel, a Republican who was running for Minnesota governor, ended his bid on Monday. He cited the administration’s immigration crackdown in the state as an “unmitigated disaster.”
“United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong. ICE has authorized its agents to raid homes using a civil warrant that need only be signed by a Border Patrol agent. That’s unconstitutional and it’s wrong,” he said.
In his announcement, Madel noted he has provided legal advice to Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month.
GOP Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania called for a “full investigation” and said that “we must enforce our laws in a way that protects the public while maintaining its trust.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she’s “appalled at the violence in Minneapolis” before turning her attention to an impending fight over a bill to fund DHS for the rest of the fiscal year. She noted that the bill includes funding for body-warn cameras, law enforcement de-escalation training and more oversight for detention facilities — provisions she said “would make such incidents less likely to occur.”
In the wake of Pretti’s death, a growing list of Senate Democrats have said they won’t vote for the DHS funding bill unless changes are made, posing a problem for lawmakers’ plan to bundle it with five other funding bills that have already passed the House. If the Senate doesn’t pass that package of bills by the end of the day Friday, a partial government shutdown will begin.
Immigration officials to face questioning as Republicans press for investigation
Many Republicans have called for a comprehensive investigation into Pretti’s killing.
Patel has said ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations branch will lead a federal probe into the shooting. Current and former agency officials told CBS News that approach is unusual since it tasks ICE with investigating the actions of another DHS agency: Border Patrol.
Meanwhile, the Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees have requested that the heads of ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appear before the panels in the coming weeks.
The letters, sent by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Andrew Gabarino of New York, did not mention the killings of Pretti and Good, but would provide a chance for lawmakers to question officials about the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.
“As you know, the Department of Homeland Security has been provided an exceptional amount of funding to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws,” Paul said in the letters, which were dated Monday. “Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight of those tax dollars and ensure the funding is used to accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement, and, most importantly, protect the American people.”
Noem, meanwhile, is expected to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3, according to a spokesperson for GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the panel.
