Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended federal agents in the aftermath of the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Echoing much of what other members of the Trump administration have said, Blanche repeatedly deflected responsibility from the federal agents who killed Pretti. Instead, he attempted to blame the agents’ aggressive and escalatory actions on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, local law enforcement, protestors and Gov. Tim Walz.
“ICE has a very tough job. It is very hard when they’re walking, trying to do their job, and there are agitators and rioters everywhere,” Blanche told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “They are trying to impede and obstruct ICE, and it makes the job that our men and women have to do virtually impossible to do without interactions like that.”
“And yes, yesterday’s shooting was a tragedy. And yes, we feel a ton of sympathy for the family and friends of the deceased. But make no mistake about it, this was entirely avoidable if we had a governor, if we had a mayor, if we had leadership in Washington and over in Minnesota that actually cared about their citizens. This should never have happened because there would be law enforcement on the streets helping ICE,” he added.
