Border Patrol agents who shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis placed on administrative leave

The development comes as the Trump administration is trying desperately to contain the blowback from the two killings in Minneapolis this month and the growing resentment over the excesses of ICE and Border Patrol agents, even among some Republicans.

Trump administration’s U-turn

In the past few days, the Trump administration and some of the US President’s top aides have been forced to swallow their own initial words about the killing of Pretti.

The DHS has retracted its initial statement that Pretti “violently resisted” Customs and Border Protection and appeared to want to “massacre law enforcement.”

On Wednesday, a DHS spokesperson told NBC News that “The initial statement was based on reports from CBP from a very chaotic scene on the ground.”

On Tuesday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the “initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground”. He also said they are “evaluating” why CBP did not appear to follow proper protocol during the incident.

Soon after the fatal shooting on Saturday, Miller, the driver of Trump’s immigration agenda, had called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be ​assassin.”

The CBP internal assessment said that the agency’s personnel tried to take Pretti into custody and that “a struggle ensued.”

The review said that a customs officer tried to move Pretti and a woman out of the street, but that they “did not ‌move.” The officer then fired pepper spray at Pretti and the woman, it said.

A Border Patrol agent shouted “He’s got a gun!” multiple times during the struggle, the review said. ‌Five seconds later, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer fired at Pretti.