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TWO IMMIGRATION AGENTS involved in the fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis have been placed on leave, a US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson has said.
It comes as US President Donald Trump battles backlash over the incident.
“The two officers involved are on administrative leave. This is standard protocol,” the spokesperson told AFP in a statement.
Intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti was shot multiple times on Saturday after being forced to the ground by camouflaged officers in a scuffle captured on video.
His death, which followed the deadly shooting of another female protester by an immigration officer earlier in January, sparked nationwide and bipartisan outrage.
Trump has called for an “honorable and honest investigation” into Pretti’s death and suggested he would “de-escalate a little bit” the administration’s immigration crackdown in the city in the northern state of Minnesota.
Stephen Miller – a powerful figure who leads Trump’s hardline immigration policy – told AFP yesterday that the agents may have breached “protocol” before the shooting.
The White House later said Miller was referring to “general guidance” to immigration agents operating in Minnesota, not the specific incident involving Pretti.
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