Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by federal immigration officers was "entirely avoidable" if Minnesota leaders and local police had cooperated with federal agents during immigration operations.
Blanche acknowledged he could not say from video footage whether the man brandished a gun or was disarmed before shots were fired.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Blanche repeatedly argued that the core issue was the absence of local law enforcement support at the scene, saying he did not see "a single state and local law enforcement officer there to help."
He called ICE actions in Minneapolis "isolated operations to get criminals off the street" carried out with "zero cooperation" from state and city leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Pressed on whether the video showed the man, identified in the broadcast as Alex Pretti, threatening officers, Blanche said investigators still needed to determine what happened before the filmed moments.
"We don't know what happened in the minutes leading up to what we just watched," he said, adding that officers may have perceived information not visible on camera.
When asked directly whether Pretti had brandished a gun, Blanche did not say that he did and instead said the video did not capture "everything that's happening," arguing it was impossible to judge the complete encounter from a short clip.
Blanche also said he did not know whether Pretti had been disarmed before shots were fired.
"I do not know, and nobody else knows, either. That's why we're doing an investigation," he said, while also saying it "does appear that he was armed" and that lawful firearm possession is protected.
In the same exchange, he said the shooting was a "split-second decision" made in a "very complicated, violent situation" and tied the risk to what he described as "agitators and rioters" interfering with federal operations.
Independent reporting has since confirmed key baseline facts about the incident, but not the central question Blanche declined to answer on air: whether Pretti brandished a handgun at officers.
The Associated Press reported that a U.S. Border Patrol officer shot and killed Pretti, 37, on Saturday and that the Department of Homeland Security said he was shot after he "approached" Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, while bystander videos show him holding a phone and do not appear to show a visible weapon.
Blanche, who argued the confrontation reflected a breakdown unique to Minneapolis, also accused moderator Kristen Welker of mischaracterizing what the public could infer from the video, saying, "You shouldn't try to gaslight the administration about what happened."
He insisted the broader debate should focus on cooperation between local police and federal agents, maintaining that federal enforcement can be carried out "safely" when local officials assist.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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