These Republicans Are Breaking With Trump Over Pretti Shooting

Topline

Former Vice President Mike Pence called the killing of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis “deeply troubling” on Monday, becoming the latest Republican to break with the Trump administration in raising questions about the merits of the shooting.

Pence called the shooting “tragic” and said a “full and transparent investigation of this officer involved shooting must take place immediately.”

Pence is among a growing group of Republicans expressing unease with Pretti’s death as the Trump administration has demonized Pretti to defend the agent who shot him, claiming he posed an imminent danger to law enforcement.

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have also called for a probe into the shooting, with Cassidy saying, “the credibility of ICE and D.H.S. are at stake.”

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said Sunday he requested testimony from senior officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Citizen and Immigration Services as part of an upcoming hearing to “conduct oversight of each agency and ensure they are fulfilling their duty to protect the homeland.”

Some Republican governors have also broadly criticized the Trump administration’s tactics in enforcing its anti-immigration crackdown in the wake of the shooting, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., who said, “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now” and Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vt., who said, “it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their god-given and constitutional rights to protest their government.”

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., a staunch ally to President Donald Trump, also questioned whether ICE should continue its crackdown in Minnesota, telling Fox News on Sunday, “if the mayor and the governor are going to put our ICE officials in harm’s way, and there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives or whatever, then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide, ‘Do we want to continue to have all of these illegals?’”