Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called for the firing of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for her messaging in the wake of the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this past weekend.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Tillis called Noem’s conduct “amateur-ish,” adding that she should “be out of a job.”
“What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” he said. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on. [President Trump] won on a strong message on immigration. Now, nobody’s talking about that. … They’re talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security [Department].”
Pretti was killed in Minneapolis during an altercation with Border Patrol agents this past weekend. A recent report from the DHS to members of Congress on Tuesday said that the incident sparked when agents forced two non-compliant women off the road during an enforcement operation, per KSTP:
When they didn’t move, DHS says the officer pushed both of them away, and one of the women ran to a man, later identified as Pretti, “a U.S. citizen,” the report notes.
DHS says the officer tried to move the woman and Pretti out of the road, but when they didn’t, the officer deployed oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray at both of them.
The report from DHS says that CBP personnel tried to take Pretti into custody, but he resisted, and a struggle ensued.
During the fateful struggle, a border patrol agent yelled, “He’s got a gun!” (referring to Pretti) several times until an agent fired his Glock 19 followed by another firing of a Glock 47. Neither the DHS report nor witnesses at the scene indicated that Pretti, who had a concealed carry permit, reached for his gun during the scuffle. The report also did not specify if Pretti’s firearm had been secured by agents when the first shot rang out.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Secretary Noem repeated talking points pushed by White House aide Stephen Miller describing Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who sought to inflict “maximum damage” on federal agents.
“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,” Noem said during a press conference.
In his statement to reporters, Tillis further asserted that Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem crafted talking points before a formal incident report had been assembled.
“Those two people told the president before they even had an incident report whatsoever that the person who died was a terrorist. That is amateur hour at its worst,” Tillis said.
Tillis said he had “communicated” his concerns about Noem to the White House, which distanced President Trump from Miller’s statements during a press conference on Monday.
“I think she’s out of her depth, she’s proven that. She doesn’t know how to lead, how to de-escalate. She’s exposing ICE officers to dangerous situations, she’s exposing U.S. citizens to deadly situations,” Tillis said.
Tillis, however, stopped short of calling for Noem’s impeachment, saying her removal should be “a management decision.”
“She needs to go,” he said.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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