Trump administration defends killing American in Minneapolis, contradicts videos

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 26: Officials in US President Donald Trump's administration defended on Sunday the fatal shooting of a US citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis, even as video evidence contradicted their version of events and as tensions grew between local law enforcement and federal officers.

As residents visited a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in frigid temperatures and snow to mark Saturday's fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Trump administration officials stated that Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defense. That account was at odds with videos recorded by bystanders.

Pretti is the second American to be fatally shot by federal immigration officers this month in Minneapolis, where Trump, a Republican, has deployed thousands of armed and masked agents in a deportation effort with little precedent.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, again called on Trump to pull federal agents out of the state, which has asked a federal judge to restrain what it says are unconstitutional excesses in Trump's surge.

"The victims are Border Patrol agents," Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

AFP adds, Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton issued pointed calls Sunday for America to stand up and defend their values after the second killing of a citizen in Minneapolis by immigration agents that Donald Trump blamed on Democratic "chaos."

The Trump administration has faced intensifying pressure over its mass immigration crackdown, particularly after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Saturday while scuffling with him on an icy roadway.

That incident came less than three weeks after an immigration officer fired on Renee Good, also 37, killing her in her car in the same Midwestern city.    �"REUTERS, AFP