Since ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, there has been much outrage and controversy surrounding the official responses that have come from Donald Trump’s government.
In the days that have followed, both Donald and Melania Trump have given statements on the incident that killed Pretti.
ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis
Pretti, an ICU nurse at Minneapolis VA Hospital, was shot several times by federal agents, who claimed that he had a gun and was brandishing it at officers.
This latest ICE incident occurred just days after the killing of Renee Good in the same city.
Since the shooting, different perspectives - some under sworn oath - have emerged that contradict that version of events, which has been broadly followed by the government.,
JD Vance has been criticized for his reaction to Pretti’s death, and the 37-year-old’s family have spoken out against what they call ‘sickening lies’ told by those in power.
In his own first statement, Donald Trump referred to Pretti - at that stage unnamed - as ‘the gunman’, although once again that account has been challenged as more perspectives have emerged.
In a later statement, Trump later told the Wall Street Journal: “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination."
He added: “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it.
"But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either."
Speaking about the alleged weapon, he said it was a ‘very dangerous gun, a dangerous and unpredictable gun. It’s a gun that goes off when people don’t know it.’
He later updated that a major investigation was underway into the shooting.
Video evidence shared online seemed to show that Pretti was attempting to help a woman at the time ICE intervened and might even have been disarmed before he was shot.
Another perspective showed him holding a phone, not a gun, before his death.
Pretti was a legal gun owner and possessed a concealed carry permit.
Melania Trump gave a rare statement on the incident
In her own statement, the First Lady Melania Trump said: “I’m calling for unity.
“I know my husband, the president, had a great call yesterday with the governor and the mayor, and they’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots.
"I’m against the violence, so please, if you protest, protest in peace.
“And we need to unify in this time.”
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JD Vance was widely criticized for a post he shared in the aftermath of the incident, and was even branded a ‘sick f***’ for his words on X.
The Vice President said: "When I was in Minneapolis, I heard a number of crazy stories. But near the top of the list:
"A couple of off duty ICE and CBP officers were going to dinner in Minneapolis. They were doxed and their location revealed, and the restaurant was then mobbed.
"The officers were locked in the restaurant, and local police refused to respond to their pleas for help (as they've been directed by local authorities). Eventually, their fellow federal agents came to their aid."
"This is just a taste of what's happening in Minneapolis because state and local officials refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“They have created the chaos so they can have moments like yesterday, where someone tragically dies and politicians get to grandstand about the evils of enforcing the border."
That did not go down with some, as one person responded: "The craziest story I heard was when two of your ICE agents unloaded 10 bullets into a VA nurse for no reason. You sick f*ck."
Another wrote: "A man was executed in the streets by ICE agents and you couldn’t care less. JD, I know you live in a bubble and nobody around you cares either, but people will remember this."
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: "You are defending the open killing of everyday Americans for exercising their Constitutional rights.
"First, the mother of a 6 year old child.
“Now, an ICU nurse to veterans. Both shot at nearly point blank range. All without reflection or remorse.
“People will not forget this."