Minneapolis police chief, a NJ native, speaks with News 12 about Good, Pretti shootings
O'Hara said he was not surprised that there would be a DOJ investigation.
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The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed Saturday by Border Patrol officers, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, the former public safety director in Newark, New Jersey, joined News 12 to discuss the situation on the ground in the embattled city.
He said he was not surprised that there would be a DOJ investigation.
“People rightfully expect that law enforcement would conduct an investigation whenever there is a use of deadly force,” he told News 12’s Eric Landskroner.
Blanche did not explain why the DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but has said a similar probe is not warranted in the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. He said that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”
O’Hara addressed the vitriol that ICE has experienced since Operation Metro Surge began in the city.
“People may perceive the actions that ICE is doing as not legitimate, or people may believe that the laws that they are enforcing are not just,” he said. “The reality is that ICE still is a lawful government agency with lawful authority to enforce immigration law, and people cannot physically obstruct federal agents from enforcing federal law. So, I think there is a fine line there, and I think it requires all sides to acknowledge that we need the rule of law in this country.”
President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was sent to Minneapolis following last weekend’s fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti.
“We had a good conversation with Mr. Homan, the CBP commissioner and an official from ICE two days ago. I can tell you that Mr. Homan has definitely been consistent,” O’Hara said. “Over the course of the last year, I have always heard him say that he wants his ICE officers to be able to arrest people in jails and prisons and less so on the street. I think he also agrees that a lot of things that were happening here were improper.”
O'Hara also told News 12 that Pretti's previous encounter with ICE, where he was caught on camera kicking a vehicle with agents inside, "has no bearing whatsoever on the encounter that happened a week later and ultimately the use of deadly force against him."
Tune into News 12's Power & Politics this weekend, where O’Hara is a guest. He also discusses Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s announcement of a portal for residents to upload images of ICE operations.
AP Wire Services contributed to this report.
