WAUSAU -- U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the GOP frontrunner for Wisconsin’s next governor, said Monday he hadn’t seen video footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fatally shooting a Minneapolis resident on Saturday and said he wanted to see the results of an investigation before passing judgment.
The Hazelhurst Republican also pledged that state and local law enforcement would cooperate with federal law enforcement efforts if elected governor, and laid blame for the ICE operation in Minneapolis at the feet of Minnesota’s elected officials, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey during a press conference where he announced his tax plans.
“Oftentimes (the videos are) grainy, and I reserve judgment until professionals review this thoroughly and have a chance to do a full investigation,” Tiffany told reporters Monday when pressed on whether he’d seen video of protester Alex Pretti, 37, being tackled by ICE agents and shot at close range while he was on the ground.
“In the information age, we all know what happens,” Tiffany said. “We see lots of armchair quarterbacks.”
The Trump administration has justified the killing of Pretti on Saturday by claiming he was armed and intended to “massacre” agents, without providing proof. Pretti had a permit to carry a gun, and analysis of the video footage of the shooting does not appear to show him reaching for his gun.
Tiffany said that while people should be allowed to carry guns if state law allows, they should think about the ramifications of doing so.
Tiffany’s comments came the same day a GOP candidate for governor in Minnesota, Chris Madel, announced he was dropping out of the race there because he could not support or belong to a political party that supports “stated retribution on the citizens” on Minnesota residents. Madel also said the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in the Twin Cities had gone too far and accused agents of violating the Constitution by raiding homes with a civil warrant rather than a judicial one.
Madel, who joined the race for governor in Minnesota less than two months ago, had offered pro bono legal representation to Jonathon Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month.
In the days since Pretti was killed, a growing number of Republicans have called for an investigation into the shooting.
On Sunday, Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the chair and vice chair of the National Governors Association, called for “a reset of strategy toward a unified vision for immigration enforcement.”
“Scenes of violence and chaos on our streets are unacceptable and do not reflect who we are,” the governors said.
In his comments to reporters, Tiffany said the immigration enforcement efforts in the Twin Cities had been brought on by that state’s own leaders for not cracking down harder on social welfare fraud after more than $250 million in federal funding was siphoned off by a nonprofit that claimed it fed children thousands of free meals when it did not. The nonprofit, run by a white U.S. citizen, had numerous employees who are Somali Americans.
The other GOP contender for governor, Washington County executive Josh Schoemann, said in a statement he agrees with Tiffany’s call for an investigation. Democratic contenders for governor, including state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and state Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, have called for ICE to be abolished; other Democratic candidates have condemned the killing, said ICE should end its operation in the Twin Cities and demanded accountability for agents’ actions.
On Monday, Gov. Tony Evers announced Wisconsin was joining Minnesota’s lawsuit, along with other Democratic-led states, against the Trump administration seeking an injunction against “illegal” immigration enforcement tactics.
Sign up for our Daily Update & Weekend Update email newsletters!
Get the latest news, sports, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
