President Donald Trump is shifting gears in Minnesota. White House Border Czar Tom Homan, who had previously not been involved in that area, is being sent to lead the operation, and notably, he will report directly to the president, not DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
That decision dovetails with a report from Fox News’ Bill Melugin on Sunday evening, where over half a dozen immigration agents expressed frustration with the way DHS was handling things, specifically regarding how they messaged the recent shooting of anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti.
For context, here was what Melugin reported.
To summarize, the agents actually risking their lives on the streets didn’t feel as if the messaging out of DHS was helping their situation, or worse, was actually making things more dangerous and less effective. Specifically, they noted the rush by Noem and Border Patrol official Greg Bovino to describe Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who was carrying a gun to cause “maximum damage” and commit a massacre.
Whatever you think about the shooting of Pretti, there is no evidence, and plenty of counter evidence, to the idea that he was there on a mission to murder CBP officers. If that were his plan, he had ample opportunity to draw his weapon and fire long before he ended up pepper-sprayed on the ground. When the physical aspect of the confrontation began, he was being pulled backwards off the ground for detainment, not attempting to draw his weapon to shoot anyone.