At the first local press conference following the shooting, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey recounted watching the video of masked federal agents “pummeling one of our citizens” before shooting and killing him, then asked, “How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?”
An another press conference later Saturday, Frey highlighted how two of the three homicides recorded so far this year in the city have involved federal agents.
Governor Tim Walz said the video footage he’s seen of the shooting is “sickening” and alleged that DHS officials have lied about what happened:
“Thank God we have video,” Walz said. “Because according to DHS, these seven heroic guys took an onslaught of a battalion against them, or something.”
“It’s nonsense, and it’s lies,” Walz said. “This needs to be the event that says, ‘enough.’”
He once again called for President Trump to “Remove this force from Minnesota. They are sowing chaos and violence.
“We can’t live like this,” Walz said:
He also called for state authorities to lead the investigation into the shooting, said that the state was “creating a log of evidence” to eventually prosecute federal agents, and that “Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this.”
Numerous other state and local officials, including Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, repeated their demands for the Trump’s administration’s siege to end.
Minnesota congressman and House GOP whip Tom Emmer said in an X post that Walz and Minneapolis leaders have “put federal law enforcement’s lives at risk”:
The governor and local leaders’ rhetoric has empowered criminals and put federal law enforcement’s lives at risk. It’s dangerous and has made the situation in Minneapolis much worse. Unlike my Democrat colleagues, I’m going to let law enforcement conduct their investigation and not jump to asinine conclusions. We are grateful no Border Patrol officers were harmed.
