Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both piled on the Democrat-led outrage against ICE and Border Patrol agents following the shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti after he showed up to protest the arrest of an illegal alien with a firearm.
Both former presidents put out statements essentially accusing the Border Patrol agent who shot and killed Pretti of committing murder rather than acting in self-defense after it appeared that Pretti was reaching for his handgun while grappling with at least four agents.
“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” Obama wrote in an X post on behalf of himself and former first lady Michelle Obama that contained a screenshot of a longer statement.
The Obamas’ statement criticized federal agents for “acting with impunity” and using tactics that appear designed to intimidate, harass, provoke, and endanger the residents of a major American city.
They pointed out that these tactics have been described as “embarrassing, lawless, and cruel” by the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the first Trump administration, and have led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.
The statement directly addressed the administration’s response to these incidents, asserting that officials “seem eager to escalate the situation” rather than enforce discipline and accountability.
The Obamas specifically mentioned public explanations regarding the shootings of Pretti and Good, which they claimed “aren’t informed by any serious investigation” and appear to contradict video evidence:
Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety.
That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we’re seeing the opposite.
For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city. These unprecedented tactics—which even the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration has characterized as embarrassing, lawless and cruel—have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation—and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence.
This has to stop. I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, administration officials will reconsider their approach, and start finding ways to work constructively with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as well as state and local police to avert more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals.
In the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country. They are a timely reminder that ultimately it’s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.
Clinton began his statement similarly: “Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them.”
“If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back,” he wrote.
