Two federal officers involved in Saturday’s shooting of Alex Pretti have been placed on paid administrative leave, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
The sources told ABC News this is standard operating procedure when there is an officer-i1212123451nvolved shooting.
It is standard protocol for agents involved in shootings to be placed on administrative leave while internal investigations are conducted.
One federal officer involved is a Border Patrol agent and the other is a Customs and Border Protection officer, according to a Department of Homeland Security notification to Congress, obtained by ABC News on Tuesday. Both discharged their weapons, according to the notification. Pretti, a US citizen, was shot and killed on Saturday in an incident which has sparked ongoing protests Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warns Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is “playing with fire” after Frey said “Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws” Responding to Trump’s post on social media, Frey says “The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws”. Trump’s comments come after Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar was attacked at an event she was hosting on Tuesday, when an audience member used a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at her. Omar, a Democrat who has frequently clashed with the Trump administration over its immigration policies, was not hurt and continued to speak.
The details of the leave and identities of the agents are still unclear, but it comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seek to cool tensions in the city of Minneapolis.
Frey has responded to Trump arguing it is the local police’s job to keep people safe “not enforce fed immigration laws” and that everyone should feel they can call the emergency line, 911, which connects to the police department, if needed.
Agents are typically placed on leave for at least three days – but sometimes that can go longer, said Scott Sweetow, a former special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, commonly called ATF, in St. Paul.
“That’s both to protect the agency, to protect the person and frankly to protect the public from someone who may really be rattled when they’re out there because they’ve had to use deadly force and you don’t want them back out there engaging in a situation where they could use deadly force again,” Sweetow said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who overseas ICE and Border Patrol, has previously said this standard procedure was followed after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month
A CBS anchor asked Noem whether the officer was placed on the normal three-day administrative leave following the shooting.
“We are following the exact same investigative and review process that we always have under ICE and under the Department of Homeland Security and within the administration,” Noem said.
“The exact same policy that the Biden administration used, the exact same review, so we haven’t changed any of that,” she added. A Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson has confirmed that “two officers involved are on administrative leave” and that this is “standard protocol”.
It is unclear exactly when the personnel involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti were placed on leave.
Typically, as part of standard protocol, federal law enforcement agents who have been involved in a shooting are placed on administrative leave during the course of the investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
By Agencies
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