(Minneapolis) Minneapolis awaits on Wednesday the “small de-escalation” promised by Donald Trump, an adviser to whom spoke of failings on the part of federal immigration police after the tragic shooting death of a nurse, which continues to shake the United States.
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The city of some 400,000 inhabitants remains in shock over the death of Alex Pretti, 37, in a confrontation with the US border police (CBP), after that of Renee Good on January 7, under the bullets of the immigration police (ICE).
And the situation remains highly flammable. On Tuesday evening, Democratic MP of Somali origin, Ilhan Omar, was attacked during a public meeting.
An individual rushed towards the elected official brandishing a syringe, filled with an unidentified foul-smelling liquid, before being subdued by the security service. Unscathed, this figure of the American left, one of the favorite targets of Donald Trump’s verbal attacks, continued his speech.
“We must once and for all abolish” the immigration police, she insisted, demanding the resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
The American left opposes the vast deployment in Minneapolis of federal agents who have come to arrest undocumented immigrants in large numbers to honor Donald Trump’s promise to increase expulsions.
She denounces more generally her objectives in this area, according to her contrary to the main principles of American democracy.
A 34-year-old man, suspected of human trafficking, was injured after an exchange of fire with CBP agents in Arizona, a US state bordering Mexico, according to local authorities. His condition was serious, but stable.
“Potential assassin”
On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s very influential and radical advisor, Stephen Miller, changed the official discourse. “We are examining the reasons why the (…) CBP team may not have followed protocol,” he said after describing Alex Pretti this weekend as a “potential assassin.” »
The White House then appeared to backpedal, clarifying that the official was referring to “general guidelines” for immigration agents operating in the state, rather than Pretti’s death specifically.
Videos analyzed by AFP and other media undermine the thesis of certain members of the government according to which the nurse, who legally carried a weapon, constituted a threat to the police.
Read “Protester shot dead in Minneapolis: the video dissected”
“He has a gun!” »
Two police officers shot the victim, five seconds after an officer shouted “he has a gun!” », Says a preliminary report from the Department of Homeland Security sent to Congress and reported by several American media on Tuesday.
It is “crazy that people are trying to act as if murdering civilians was something acceptable,” reacted French basketball player Victor Wembanyama, new star of the NBA.
It is now Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s emissary, who is in charge of the anti-migrant operation and has met with local Democratic officials.
“Even if we don’t agree on everything, these meetings are a productive starting point,” the man who replaced border police chief Greg Bovino said on X.
“Bovino is very good, but he’s a pretty eccentric guy,” Donald Trump said on Fox News. “In some cases, that’s a good thing. Maybe it wasn’t here,” he said, before claiming, without evidence, that the protests in Minnesota had been infiltrated by “paid insurrectionists.”
Although he has let go in the face of heavy criticism, including from his own camp, Donald Trump does not intend to review his immigration policy. And indicated that his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, remained in place.
In Minnesota, a judge on Monday promised a quick decision on the state attorney general’s request to suspend the operation there.
Justice also blocked the expulsion of Liam Conejo Ramos, 5 years old, and his father of Ecuadorian origin, arrested last week. A photo showing the frightened boy, wearing a blue hat with rabbit ears, his backpack held by a figure dressed in black, went viral.
A federal agent was also turned back while trying to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country whose president, Daniel Noboa, is an ally of Donald Trump.
