Trump: Softer hand after the shootings

TT

Updated 20.58 | Published 15.21

 

Federal forces on site in Minnesota at the end of January. Photo: Adam Gray/AP/TT

Around 700 federal police officers are being recalled from the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis.

At the same time, President Donald Trump is opening up for less harsh immigration efforts in the future after the two shootings.

– I learned that we might need a little softer hand. But you still have to be tough, Trump said in an interview with NBC's "Nightly News".

The statement was in response to a question about what lessons have been learned after the high-profile events in Minneapolis in recent weeks – where two American citizens were shot dead by immigration police ICE and federal border police.

– We are dealing with really tough criminals, Trump continues to NBC.

Earlier on Wednesday, Border Patrol Commissioner Tom Homan announced that 700 of the approximately 3,000 federal police officers who have recently been in the state will be withdrawn “immediately.” The federal force consists of personnel from, among others, the immigration agency ICE and the Border Patrol.

The reason is that local authorities have agreed to cooperate with ICE to hand over detained migrants who are in state custody, according to Homan. According to him, the need for federal personnel on the streets has thus decreased.

At the same time, Homan emphasizes that the federal operation itself continues.

“I am not leaving until we are completely finished,” he says.

The events in Minnesota have triggered strong protests among residents and led to an increasingly tense atmosphere.

FACTS

Two fatal shootings in Minneapolis

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was shot dead on January 24. Authorities say he was shot in self-defense by a Border Patrol agent. But according to analysis of video footage of the incident in the US media, he was shot multiple times while lying on the ground after being subdued and disarmed by several agents.

Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and poet, was shot and killed by an ICE patrol on January 7 in her car. Authorities say she tried to run over the immigration officers, while critics say analysis of video footage supports that she tried to swerve and leave the scene.