“Could be a backlash for Donald Trump”

TT

Published 12.55

          

           

          President Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House on January 20.

          1 / 2Photo: Mark Schiefelbein /AP/TT

The shooting death of Alex Pretti is hitting hard in an already shaken Minneapolis. The shooting is the third in a short time in which the federal immigration agency ICE is involved, and the second with a fatal outcome.

– It is an extremely tense atmosphere, says US expert Dag Blanck.

The protests against ICE have been going on for some time and received new fuel after Pretti, 37, was shot dead by federal police on Saturday.

– People are very upset and it is a very tense situation, says Dag Blanck, professor of North American studies at Uppsala University.

At the same time, political differences are hardening. Both the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, and the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, are sharply criticizing ICE's actions. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, has claimed at a press conference that Frey and Walz are encouraging violence – and that Pretti was engaged in domestic terrorism.

Dag Blanck points out that US President Donald Trump has been criticized for immediately resorting to the concept of domestic terrorism when mother of three Renee Good was shot dead in early January.

– There could be a backlash for Donald Trump if public opinion begins to believe that this was not a terrorist and that he was murdered for no reason.