Barack Obama has made a rare political statement to condemn Donald Trump‘s administration over the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old nurse in Minnesota.
‘The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy,’ the former president wrote on X in the wake of the horror on Sunday.
‘It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.’
Obama placed the blame for Pretti’s death, along with the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in the same city, squarely on the shoulders of the ICE and Border Patrol officers involved, and on Trump administration officials who have defended them.
The Democrat politician said the federal agents caused the deaths by using ’embarrassing, lawless and cruel tactics’ which have endangered US citizens.
He also slammed government officials for being ‘eager to escalate the situation while offering public explanations for the shooting that aren’t informed by any serious investigations – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence’.
Pretti was gunned down amid a scuffle with Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, while Good, a 37-year-old mother-of-three, was killed by ICE agents in the city on January 7.
Both victims were protesting the increasingly aggressive tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to deport illegal migrants, and the deaths have only caused demonstrations against the agency to snowball.
Former US President Barack Obama has made a rare political statement to condemn the Trump administration over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minnesota
‘The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy,’ the former president wrote on X in the wake of the horror on Sunday, before placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of ICE and Border Patrol agents, along with Trump administration officials who have defended them
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said agents acted in self-defense in both cases, while Trump has blamed Good and Pretti for their own deaths.
Obama’s rare political statement hits back at this, condemning Trump officials while praising those who have taken part in ‘peaceful protests’ across America.
He acknowledged that while federal law enforcement agents have ‘a tough job’, they are expected to ‘carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way’.
‘That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota,’ he wrote. ‘In fact, we’re seeing the opposite.’
He added that people have been ‘rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city’.
Obama said these tactics have enraged even the former top lawyer for DHS under the first Trump administration, John Mitnick.
‘This has to stop,’ the 44th US president continued.
Alex Pretti was fatally shot by US immigration agents as they tried to detain him in Minneapolis
Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan ‘Jon’ Ross in Minneapolis
‘I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, administration officials will reconsider their approach and start finding ways to work constructively with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as well as state and local police to avert more chaos.
‘In the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.
‘They are a timely reminder that ultimately it’s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.’
Obama’s statement was issued from his X account, jointly with his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama.
This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.
