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Donald Trump said he feels “terrible” over the recent deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, but even worse because of Good because her parents are “great Trump people.”
The president appeared in a sit-down interview on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” Tuesday night. Will Cain quickly brought up the events in Minneapolis, where an ICE takeover of the city led to federal officers shooting two U.S. citizens.
“We will de-escalate a little bit,” Trump admitted, but at the same time said the poll numbers in Minnesota would be “better than they have been in many years.”
Interview statements and initial reactions
“The whole country is talking about what happened in Minnesota last week,” Cain said, adding that everyone has seen the video of Pretti’s killing and has an opinion about it. “I’m interested to know what you thought when you first saw this video,” he added.
“I think the whole thing is terrible,” Trump replied. “I don’t like that he had a gun on him… That’s pretty unusual. But no one knows when they saw the gun, how they saw it, everything else. Bottom line, it was terrible.”
He continued, referring to Good’s death: “Both cases were terrible. The other one was terrible too. And I don’t know about his parents, but I know that her parents were big Trump fans. That makes me feel bad, anyway. But you could say even worse: They were great Trump people, Trump fans. The daughter was – I don’t know if you could say radicalized. Maybe radicalized. I don’t know. But you don’t want to see something like that.”
Previous statements and ICE defense
Trump had previously addressed Good’s death at a White House press conference and also mentioned her parents’ loyalty to Trump.
“You’re going to make mistakes sometimes,” he said of ICE. “ICE will sometimes be too rough with someone. You’re dealing with rough people. They’ll make a mistake sometimes. That can happen. We feel terrible. I felt terrible when I was told that the young woman had experienced this tragedy. But when I learned that her father was a – I hope he still is, but I don’t know – a great Trump fan. He was all for Trump. He loved Trump.”
And he added: “And you know, it’s terrible. It’s so sad. It just happens.”
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot in the head by a masked ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month. The tragedy came a day after thousands of federal agents were deployed to Minnesota for a 30-day immigration enforcement “offensive.” The agent has since been identified as Jonathan Ross. After the shooting, Trump administration officials claimed Good was a “domestic terrorist” who tried to injure officers with her vehicle.
Killing of Alex Pretti and political consequences
Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by a group of immigration officers in Minneapolis on Saturday. The killing was captured on video by several passersby. In the footage, Pretti is seen filming officers with his cell phone and being sprayed with pepper spray after trying to help a woman who was pushed to the ground by immigration officers. About half a dozen officers wrestle Pretti to the ground and hit him in the head. Two officers then shot him a total of ten times within a few seconds and apparently continued firing even after he collapsed.
The Department of Homeland Security and government officials quickly portrayed Pretti as a potential domestic terrorist, even before he was positively identified. After massive public backlash, including from Republican ranks, the government gradually changed the narrative and blamed Pretti for carrying a gun at a protest.
Yesterday, Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to meet with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. According to Walz’s office, “leaders agreed on the need for ongoing dialogue and will continue to work toward these goals.” Homan wrote on
