Trump announced on Monday that he is sending a new federal representative to the state. Tom Homan - the country’s so-called “border czar” with overall responsibility for border enforcement and deportations - will travel there.
Homan is being given a lead role and appears set to step ahead of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commissioner Greg Bovino in the chain of command. Bovino is set to depart, but the government has denied reports that he has been fired.
The fatal shooting of 37-year-old American Alex Pretti on Saturday has been followed by even more protests against the US federal government, with criticism or objections even among President Trump's party colleagues.
Misjudgment?
After the shooting in Minneapolis, a barrage of statements came from the federal government that partly blamed the victim, Alex Pretti, who was described as a "domestic terrorist," and partly gave an incorrect picture of the course of events.
Kristi Noem led the charge, accusing Pretti of drawing a gun and acting violently toward the police officers who then shot and killed him. Bovino described it as the man's intent to commit some kind of massacre.
Resistance and protests against the federal intervention in Minnesota, which brought large police forces to the state, have grown. U.S. media report resistance even within the Department of Homeland Security, where some reportedly see it as a major misjudgment to go out and spread falsehoods about what happened.
"Trump wants to investigate"
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has had to answer many questions about all the government's actions.
"As for President Trump, whose case I represent, he has said he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts sort out the case."
She said this in her latest appearance, which some American media describe as a step backwards.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, spoke by phone with the president after criticizing the intervention for weeks.
"The president agreed that the current situation cannot continue," Frey said when giving his account of the conversation, according to the AP.
According to Frey, federal police forces will be withdrawn from his city soon. In an ongoing court case, where judges are weighing whether there is a basis for a federal intervention, it has emerged that there are “about 3,000” men in the forces in and around Minneapolis.
During a federal police intervention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, January 24, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed.
Several film clips of the incident largely contradict the account given by government representatives, which portrayed the man as a threat.
Alex Pretti is seen approaching a group of police officers who are talking to a group of civilians. The officers push several of them. Pretti holds a phone high in front of him and appears to be filming the incident.
The 37-year-old is seen standing between the police and the civilians, and is pepper-sprayed. He is surrounded by several police officers and wrestled down.
Pretti, who had a license to carry a gun, is believed to have been carrying a gun in a holster on his hip. He is not seen at any time taking or attempting to take it from the holster, or threatening with it. Examination of the footage suggests that he was disarmed while lying on the ground.
A police officer is seen removing a gun near Pretti's hip while another officer draws his weapon. Two officers shoot Pretti, who is lying on the ground, with at least ten shots in five seconds.
