President Donald Trump says Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are to blame for the Saturday morning shooting … claiming they don’t protect ICE agents and cause situations like this to arise.
POTUS shared his thoughts about the shooting on Truth Social shortly after the incident … posting a picture of the gun the victim allegedly had when federal agents shot him to death.
Truth Social / @realDonaldTrump
The president asked where local police were at the time of the shooting … and why they aren’t “allowed to protect ICE Officers.”
President Trump alleges Walz and Frey called off local and state cops … and that forced ICE agents to take their protection into their own hands.Play video content
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
The president then launches into another rant about fraud in the state … claiming Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has $34 million in her bank account and “Tens of Billions of Dollars” have been stolen from Minnesota.
It’s unclear what fraud the president is specifically alluding to … and he provides no concrete evidence of fraud in his social media tirade — but he says everything people are witnessing is some sort of theft and fraud cover-up.
President Trump continues, “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” before calling on them to let the “ICE PATRIOTS” do their jobs.
Vice President J.D. Vance has echoed Trump’s sentiments by resharing his post … while also claiming ICE officials have told him they’re trying to work with law enforcement in Minnesota — but have been consistently rebuffed.
The man shot and killed in Minneapolis this morning is a U.S. citizen, DHS officials have said. CNN and AP confirmed the individual was 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti. Video of the tragic shooting has circulated widely online … and shows multiple agents throwing an individual to the ground before he’s shot to death. Federal agents have claimed he was armed at the time of the shooting.Play video content
AT THE SCENE
Aron Litschke via Storyful/Amber Hamblin via Storyful
Protesters took to the streets right after the shooting … and were later dispersed by feds using tear gas. Mayor Frey and Governor Walz have both called on citizens to continue protesting peacefully. Walz has already activated the Minnesota National Guard to assist local police amid a spike in protests.
Trump rips ‘Radical Left Mayor’ of Minneapolis Jacob Frey
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President Trump on Tuesday called for Minneapolis voters to “dump” Mayor Jacob Frey, whom he accused to trying to stifle his First Amendment rights by charging a $530,000 fee to use a city arena for a campaign rally.
The president also complained in a series of tweets about the city’s decision to ban off-duty police officers from wearing their uniforms to the Thursday event.
“Someone please tell the Radical Left Mayor of Minneapolis that he can’t price out Free Speech. Probably illegal! I stand strongly & proudly with the great Police Officers and Law Enforcement of Minneapolis and the Great State of Minnesota! See you Thursday Night!” the commander-in-chief tweeted.
City officials told the Target Center, where the rally is scheduled, that it would be responsible for paying the costs.
The center then tried to pass the bill on to Team Trump and told them they would not be able to use the arena unless they agreed to the $530,000 charges, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Trump’s campaign threatened to sue, and the president lashed out on Twitter, writing that the “lightweight mayor is hurting the great police and other wonderful supporters. 72,000 ticket requests already. Dump Frey and [Minnesota Rep. Ilhan] Omar! Make America Great Again!”
The president gave a shout-out to the police department’s union boss, who has also criticized Frey.
“Thank you to Lt. Bob Kroll of the great Minneapolis Police Department for your kind words on @foxandfriends,” Trump added, referring to the president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, who told the program that Frey was discriminating against Trump ahead of his upcoming MAGA rally.
“It’s disparate treatment. They have not charged nearly that much for other events,” said Kroll.
Instead of their uniforms, many cops planned to wear bright red T-shirts with a “Cops for Trump” logo expressing their support for the president, a move he applauded.
“The Police are fighting the Radical Left Mayor, and his ridiculous Uniform Ban. Actually, I LOVE the Cops for Trump shirts. Want to bring some home. I am with you 100%!!!!” the president continued on Twitter.
Frey, who was elected in 2017 with 57.2 percent of the vote, took Trump’s tweets in stride.
“Yawn… Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors,” Frey tweeted.
Omar, a frequent target of the president’s ire, was elected in the 2018 midterms with 78 percent of the vote.
The $530,000 figure dwarfs the costs incurred by another Minnesota city for a 2018 rally.
Last October’s event cost the city of Rochester $76,138, with the campaign paying $26,215 to hold the rally at the Mayo Civic Center, Fox News reported.
Minneapolis mayor to Trump: ‘Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis’
The president called Jacob Frey ‘very weak’ regarding the protests over George Floyd’s death
Mayor Jacob Frey and President Donald Trump have differing definitions of “weakness.”ILLUSTRATION: Getty Images
As protests in response to the death of George Floyd rocked Minneapolis for a third night on Thursday, President Trump called the city’s mayor “weak” for failing to keep his community under control.
“A total lack of leadership,” the president wrote on Twitter late Thursday, adding that if “the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey,” didn’t “get his act together,” then the commander-in-chief was going to send in the National Guard.
Related:‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’: Trump threatens to call military into Minneapolis
This also led to a second Trump tweet warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” which Twitter later slapped with a label warning that the post violated its terms of service because it “glorifies violence.”
These statements were brought to Frey’s attention as the mayor was giving a press conference in the middle of the night to address the violence, which included protesters setting fire to a police station.
“Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your own actions,” he countered. “Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis.”
“Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis,” he continued, raising his voice. “We are strong as hell. Is this a difficult time period? Yes. But you better be damn sure that we’re gonna get through this.”
Watch it below, beginning at the 7:35 mark.
A state of emergency has been declared in Minneapolis, and the Minnesota National Guard has activated more than 500 soldiers to the city, the state capital of St. Paul and surrounding areas to “protect life, preserve property and ensure people’s right to peacefully demonstrate.”
Other protests have also broken out across the country this week after Floyd, a black man, was killed while under arrest for a nonviolent charge on Monday. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying on the ground, white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for several minutes — which was caught on a cellphone video that went viral. Floyd and several bystanders can be heard pleading with the officer to get off him for almost 10 minutes. Floyd lost consciousness at the scene, and was later pronounced dead.
The four officers involved in his death have been fired, and Chauvin was arrested Friday. Protesters have been demanding justice for Floyd, as well as demonstrating against police brutality, particularly police violence against people of color.
