Stephen Miller Concedes Agents Who Killed Alex Pretti ‘May Not Have Been Following’ Protocol

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Top White House aide Stephen Miller said on Tuesday that agents in Minneapolis “may not have been following” proper protocol when they shot Alex Pretti, marking a stunning shift away from administration officials’ previous statements on the shooting.

“The White House provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors,” said Miller in a statement to CNN. “We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol.”

Miller’s statement represents a change in tone on the part of President Donald Trump’s administration following the two deadly shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this month.

A prominent architect of Trump’s immigration policies, Miller has faced criticism over his dubbing Pretti an “assassin” in the hours after his death.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended her own inflammatory statements about Pretti by claiming that she only acted “at the direction of the president and Stephen.”

Noem, who claimed that Pretti had “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and kill law enforcement,” has reportedly been sidelined from immigration operations in Minnesota in favor of border czar Tom Homan, as politicians from both sides of the aisle call for her to be removed from her position at DHS.

Miller addressed Noem’s comments and additional reports that he was responsible for Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino’s claim that Pretti intended to “massacre” agents. Bovino has also reportedly been ousted from his post.

“The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground,” Miller said in the statement.

Miller notably did not dispute that he gave talking points to Noem, rather claiming that her statement directly following Pretti’s death was based on reports from Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis.

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