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President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin shared graphic images to social media Saturday evening apparently showing part of a Homeland Security Investigations officer's finger — in a jar.
McLaughlin said Minneapolis "rioters attacked our law enforcement officer and one of them bit off our HSI officer's finger."
'This avoidable tragedy is a result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials.'
"He will lose his finger," added McLaughlin.
One of the photographs appears to show a medic tending to an HSI officer who is missing the end of the fourth digit on his right hand. Another photo apparently shows the missing piece of the finger with its nail intact inside a plastic container.
The alleged incident — which U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) cited as the latest sign that Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act — came just hours after an armed 37-year-old Illinois native identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot amid a struggle with federal agents.
Pretti's ex-wife told the Associated Press that he was a Democratic voter with a permit to carry a concealed firearm who previously took to the streets in 2020 to protest the death of George Floyd. Pretti's father, Michael Pretti, said he warned his son about protesting, telling him "do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically."
The AP added that family members said Pretti was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who "cared deeply about people" and was upset by Trump’s "immigration crackdown in his city."
Photographer: Jaida Grey Eagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Department of Homeland security said its "law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted."
More from the DHS post on X:
Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
In addition to asking about Pretti's firearm, Trump wondered, "Where are the local police? Why weren't they allowed to protect ICE officers? The mayor and the governor called them off? It is stated that many of these police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — not an easy thing to do!"
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that an investigation into the shooting is underway but stressed that "this avoidable tragedy is a result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials who have resisted federal law enforcement and created this escalation."
Multitudes of radicals converged on the location of Pretti's shooting and immediately began clashing with federal agents.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem noted that the protesters who rushed to the scene "began to obstruct and to assault law enforcement officers. We saw objects being thrown at them, including ice and other objects."
"A rampant assault began and even an HSI officer agent's finger was bitten off," added Noem, who faulted Democrat Gov. Tim Walz for branding ICE as the "gestapo" and other Democrats for effectively painting targets on federal immigration officers' backs.
Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard on Saturday at the request of Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt also asked for support from the National Guard at the B.H. Whipple Federal Building.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that role of the Minnesota National Guard "is to work in support of local law enforcement and emergency responders, providing additional resources. Their presence is meant to help create a secure environment where all Minnesotans can exercise their rights safely, including the right to peacefully protest."
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