HONOLULU (KHON2) — The nation was rocked over the weekend with another killing of an American by federal agents in Minneapolis. While President Trump has recently taken an off-ramp to turn down the temperature following a phone call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, tensions remain high.
Hawaii Congresswoman Jill Tokuda doesn’t think the government’s Department of Homeland Security should be investigating the shooting after government statements contradicted video evidence, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller calling 37-year-old shooting victim and ICU nurse Alex Pretti a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement,” a statement that Vice President JD Vance shared on social media.
“Absolutely not,” Rep. Tokuda said. “I mean, think if this was Hawaii and we were icing out our HPD or local law enforcement agencies, our state law enforcement agencies. This has to be independent; it has to be an absolutely transparent investigation. And when you have the agencies and departments that are at fault running the investigation, who are we going to believe at the end of the day? We cannot ice out our local law enforcement in what is the most critical investigation that we have going on right now in this country?”
On Tuesday, President Trump said he will be watching the investigation.
“I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,” he said.
DHS has sent roughly 3,000 federal immigration officers into Minneapolis this month, including 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and 1,000 Border Patrol officers.
“First of all, they’ve got CBP, they have Customs and Border Patrol. What border exactly are they protecting in Minneapolis?” Rep. Tokuda questioned. “They created this problem. They need to de-escalate immediately. They need to withdraw ICE and CBP troops from Minneapolis. They need to make sure there’s an independent investigation, including local law enforcement. They need to start at the top in terms of accountability. They need to get rid of [Kristi] Noem; that is why I have signed for impeachment and called for it to happen immediately. That’s also why I refuse to further fund ICE millions more dollars in this budget. We already enriched the billion in the big, ugly bill, and yet all I have seen to date is not tackling drugs, not tackling illegal crossings at the border. I’ve seen Americans killed in their own streets.”
Federal funding for ICE is on its way to the Senate after passing through the House with seven Democrats joining Republicans on the vote.
“I can’t justify for my colleagues why they vote which way or the other for the Democrats in the House that supported it,” Rep. Tokuda said. “I would look to the Senate now, to some brave Republicans and Democrats, to say absolutely no more. We cannot allow this to continue. Let’s pull that out. Let’s put strong guardrails around DHS funding. Let’s do right by American taxpayers. That’s what has to immediately happen right now.”
By: Sam Spangler
Source: KHON 2