Saturday's fatal shooting of alleged anti-ICE agitator Alex Pretti was a "tragedy" caused by a powder keg "absolutely lit" by leadership in Minnesota that is anti-President Donald Trump, even if Pretti's actions do not meet the legal definition of "domestic terrorism," according to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
"I don't think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday to the legal definition of domestic terrorism," Blanche said in a televised interview Monday morning.
"What we saw was a very violent altercation.
"I am not going to prejudge the facts. You are right: There is a bunch of video that's out there," he said.
"There is a bunch of video we haven't seen yet in the minutes leading up to what happened, and what happened afterward," added Blanche.
"And you're right to the extent there is body camera, other videos that witnesses are still providing to us. So, I'm not describing it as anything except for a tragedy."
Blanche was responding to the backlash against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's remarks after the shooting Saturday, which pointed to the general obstruction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
"When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism," Noem told reporters Saturday. "This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism."
Acting Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino suggested that Pretti bringing a loaded gun and multiple high-capacity magazines to an alleged protest was done with the intent to inflict "maximum damage" and "massacre law enforcement."
Bovino noted that "about 200 rioters arrived" and "began to obstruct and assault law enforcement," and Pretti "also had two loaded magazines and no accessible ID."
"This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement," Bovino said.
Blanche on Monday lamented the distraction from the bigger issue: Obstruction and fatal shootings of anti-ICE watchers happen only in Minneapolis — where Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are inciting the obstructionists.
"It is not fair for the narrative to be around something DHS said," Blanche added in the televised interview.
"It is not fair for the narrative to be around what a video shows over 10 seconds when the real true story here is something much bigger and much more problematic.
"The American people have to recognize: In one city, we have this outrage and this powder keg happening, and it's not right, and it doesn't happen anywhere else," Blanche explained.
Democrat leadership is to blame, including state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., despite the narratives seeking to blame federal law enforcement, according to Blanche.
"It's simply because of one reason, and that's leadership in that state," he continued. "When there was all the focus on the billions and billions of dollars of fraud happening in Minneapolis, suddenly, suddenly Minneapolis becomes a powder keg.
"The people that caused that to happen were the governor, the mayor, the attorney general, Omar.
"They are the ones that incited rhetoric, encouraged these rioters to go with their cellphones, not to peacefully protest … but to go out and do exactly what was happening on Saturday morning," said Blanche.
"There was a powder keg, and it was absolutely lit by that leadership."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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