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Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents Shoot and Kill Armed Man in Minneapolis; Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker Interviewed on Violence Surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents in Various U.S. Cities; Immigration and Customs Enforcement Commander Greg Bovino Holds Press Briefing on Shooting of Minneapolis Man; Governor Tim Walz Holds Press Conference in Wake of ICE Shooting Calling on Federal Government to Remove ICE Agents from Minnesota. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired January 24, 2026 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:00:00]

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER, (D) ILLINOIS: -- attacks on our American cities are now leading to ICE and CBP shooting and killing people. We saw shoot people in the face. We -- here in Chicago, they shot two people, killed one. Five times they shot another one, blamed both of them. By the way, the lies coming out of DHS in the wake of those, blamed both of them when it turns out neither of them did anything wrong.

These ICE and CBP officers are untrained. They're unqualified. They're unprofessional. And they're dangerous.

And they're being led by Greg Bovino, who likes to pretend to be some sort of cartoon superhero, does social media about himself while he's causing people to run and be scared of law enforcement. He's carrying, you know, tear gas and tossing it at peaceful protesters. He actually looks like some sort of cartoon villain, you know, kind of a small supervillain. And I think he deserves to be asked a lot of questions. He's going to have a press conference later, I understand, today. And then I understand he's also on your show, on CNN rather, tomorrow morning on Dana Bash's show. And he needs to be asked some serious questions about, is it appropriate for CBP to, you know, to tackle this person, shoot him while he's on the ground, by the way, to shoot a woman who is, frankly, doing nothing wrong, and shoot her in the face.

They're killing people on our American streets. And the American people are reacting as they should, with outrage. It is time, frankly, to bring down the temperature, but also to push ICE out of Minneapolis. They ought to step back, and ICE needs to be revamped. And honestly, we ought to abolish Trump's ICE and replace it with something else.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And while you and I are talking, we're looking at new live pictures now, kind of bird's eye view of the tear gas, the pepper spray, all that is being dispensed to disperse crowds that have gathered in the streets of Minneapolis.

And I understand -- and hold on, governor, because I understand our Sara Sidner is in the middle of all of this. So, Sara, tell us where you are, what's happening?

OK, you know what? It's very difficult to speak when you're in the middle of this. I was told that, you know, I should toss to her, but I feel badly right now because she's in the middle of the trauma of being in the middle of all of this tear gas. And this is what happens. You can't speak. You can barely breathe. You know, if you're lucky, you can swallow some water, at least remove yourself from the situation.

So, Governor, as were looking at these pictures, it's very upsetting because I think it's difficult for anybody to watch any of these pictures and say, oh, my gosh, this is America right now. This is what's happening. People are upset about what's transpired just a couple of hours ago in the 9:00 Minneapolis time where the police chief confirms that a 37-year-old white man was shot and killed after, as the Minneapolis mayor describes, he saw six masked federal agents on top of the person trying to restrain them. And then all of a sudden, you hear gunshots.

And now you've got people who are out in these subzero temperatures very upset about what's happening in their cities. And you see now, Sara described for us earlier, in the green vests are state troopers, local police who have been descending on the city now to try to keep calm. But we also know federal authorities have been in the city, remain in the city, who have kind of been in a standoff with a lot of these protesters.

So for me, if you could just describe, you know, what you're seeing here, how this makes you feel and, and how you make sense of this. And where do you find hope in the road ahead here?

PRITZKER: Look, they're attacking local police. Local police are truly trying to keep peace. You think ICE and CBP are doing that by all the pictures, all the video that you've seen? That's not what they're about. They are literally about fomenting violence, probably so that the president can invoke the Insurrection Act, which is what he's wanted to do all along. He's wanted to bring troops into our cities. The Supreme Court has not allowed him to bring National Guard in. He's instead flooded now Minneapolis, but first, Chicago, with hundreds and thousands of ICE and CBP officers. And they're violating people's constitutional rights.

You know, I remember when the Republicans were saying that the federal government was tyrannical and that they wanted to push back on the federal government when it was interfering with states' rights or individual rights.

[14:05:0]

Now they're completely silent. We all stood together, pushing back on Joe Biden, by the way, when he tried to call out the National Guard, federalizing them back then. And we literally, all 50 governors stood together against that. And Joe Biden backed down from doing that.

Now, the Republicans, the very same Republicans, completely silent. And they're silent about the attack on American protesters, peaceful protesters, when they're being attacked by ICE and CBP.

I want to just say that that Governor Walz and the officials in Minnesota are doing the right thing. They're calling for an investigation. And it should be a state investigation, because the federal government has proven to be, well, liars. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin constantly puts out lies before there's any investigation. They don't want an investigation because they know that most often it leads to them being found guilty, not the person that they've killed or the victim here.

So I'm very upset about what's happening. I think governors need to get together and to talk to one another about how we can push back collectively on the federal government. And I call on governors to do that. And Governor Walz, I think it's the right thing, by the way, to have your local police doing local law enforcement and peacekeeping. And, of course, the federal government is responsible for immigration. And it's disturbing here that that's not actually what they're doing.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder, Governor.

PRITZKER: It is something, it's about -- it's about the president wanting to take over our American cities.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Sorry to interrupt, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are and about trust, right. You know, the investigation, we heard from local authorities who are not receiving any information from federal authorities about the direction of investigations. We've heard that federal prosecutors in the Minneapolis area were fired or stepped away from the jobs because they were being asked to investigate Renee Good, the victim of the deadly shooting who was in the vehicle a weeks ago, as opposed to investigating. They wanted to also look into the federal agent who shot and killed her.

And even in today's "Washington Post," there's a story about a federal FBI agent in Minneapolis area who has left the job because, also wanting to focus on the federal agent who fired the fatal shots at Renee Good. So what are your concerns about trust, about being able to get the truth, the full story about this approach to immigration, about these now three shootings that have taken place just this month alone in Minneapolis, and whether there will ever -- whether the public will ever really know all the facts?

PRITZKER: Well, the American public has lost trust in ICE and CBP because of the constant lies. Greg Bovino, Tricia McLaughlin, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem, they come out and say things that we have now proven are false. They accuse people of things, as they did in Chicago, and try to take them to court and criminalize something that they did when it turns out they didn't do it. And indeed, none of those charges have stuck. They've all been dismissed across the board.

So trust is lost. And it's why Trump's ICE has to go. We've got to figure out how we -- what we're going to do to replace it with something responsible and with responsible people. And I have to say that, you know, we did something in Illinois that I think should be national, which is there needs to be an accountability commission. We did that in Illinois. We got two very well-respected federal judges and others together on a commission to look at all the evidence, have people submit evidence and testimony about what ICE and CBP are doing in their neighborhoods, gathering that evidence, because we want to be able to take people to court and hold them responsible now, but also to the extent that the federal government isn't going to hold them responsible in their jobs by suspending them or even firing them, that they will be held accountable all the way up to Kristi Noem.

When Trump finally leaves office, and he's not going to be president forever. He's going to be done in 2029. And at that point, we will be able to hold people responsible, but only if we gather the evidence now.

But we are living in a dangerous moment, and it's time for the president to pull ICE out of Minneapolis, to regroup and rethink how we do immigration in the United States. He's done a terrible job of immigration enforcement, and, indeed, is fomenting violence and causing people to want to commit violence against the federal government because of the loss of loss of trust.

[14:10:03]

People haven't done that. They've been peacefully protesting. But, boy, we're on the edge of sparking something in this powder keg.

WHITFIELD: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.

PRITZKER: Thank you. I hope Sara is OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: We hope she is, too. Thank you so much, Governor.

All right, if you're just now joining us, were following breaking news out of Minnesota. Officials confirming that a Minneapolis man who the DHS says was armed has been killed. We want to go straight to Greg Bovino right now.

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER AT LARGE: -- leading United States Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection here in Minneapolis. Some of those brave men and women of Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security law enforcement join me here today to show support for all federal law enforcement who have been under constant attack in Minneapolis for weeks now. This morning was no different.

At 9:05 a.m. central standard time, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien, Jose Huerta Chuma. You can see this illegal alien on the screen to my left and right. That is Jose Huerta Chuma, whose criminal history includes domestic assault to intentionally inflict bodily harm, disorderly conduct, and driving without a valid license.

During this operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a Border Patrol agent fired defensive shots. Medics on the scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject, but the subject was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect also had two loaded magazines and no assessable I.D. This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

Then about 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement. Crowd control measures have been deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement. This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming. The officer was highly trained and had been serving as a Border Patrol agent for eight years. The officer has extensive training as a range safety officer and less lethal officer.

As mentioned, this is only the latest attack on law enforcement. Across the country, the men and women of DHS have been attacked, shot at, doxed, had their family members threatened, and as we have seen, more than 100 vehicle rammings over the past year against federal law enforcement.

We will not allow violence against our law enforcement officers, and we need state and local help, state and local law enforcement to help us coordinate to get violent criminals off the street. Mayor Frey and chief O'Hara just a few minutes ago did the opposite of that by omitting the fact that the suspect had a gun and magazines full of ammunition in what looks like a situation, again, where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

I want to reiterate what President Donald Trump, Secretary Kristi Noem, myself, Director Marcos Charles, and so many others have said time and again -- if you obstruct a law enforcement officer or assault a law enforcement officer, you are in violation of the law and will be arrested. Our law enforcement officers take an oath to protect the public. We go to work every day to protect our friends, our neighbors, and our fellow citizens. The fact of the matter is that the law does not enforce itself. It takes men and women who are willing to risk their lives to enforce it. The men and women of CBP and ICE law enforcement are highly trained professionals who love this country and do this work because they want to leave their kids and their grandkids a country that's safe and secure.

[14:15:11]

Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. One question. First question, when did agents learn that he had a gun? And did he ever brandish that weapon at agents?

BOVINO: Allie (ph), this this situation, again, is evolving. This situation is under investigation. Those facts will come to light. This particular incident is being investigated, just like we investigate other similar incidents like we've done over the past several years. It's in the hands of professionals. Those facts will come to light. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Going on to the next question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, did he have an additional gun or was the gun moved from the scene? And I watched the video from start to finish of that woman who was wearing the red jacket. And it doesn't seem like he pulled the weapon at any point. So did the -- come from the agents? Did they say that he pulled a gun before, during, after? When does the gun come out?

BOVINO: Again, this situation is evolving. This is under investigation. Those facts will come to light. But let's take a look at the gun. And you can see the gun here on the screen there that that individual possessed. It appears to be a semiautomatic, high-capacity type, possibly a Sig Sauer nine-millimeter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, no more questions. Sorry. No more questions, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commander, Commander --

WHITFIELD: All right, very brief press conference there coming from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino there saying that the suspect approached a federal agent with a nine-millimeter semi-automatic firearm and that the Border Patrol agent, he says singular, Border Patrol agent fired a defensive shot. Of course, we heard in the video that ran earlier and other eyewitness accounts that they believed multiple shots were fired, and even the police chief of Minneapolis said multiple gunshot wounds to that suspect.

All right, let's go straight to CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein. So are you hearing anything more from DHS about this incident?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Right. Well, a very notable statement there from U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. He says that this suspect, the person who was fatally shot, quote, "wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement." He says that the person who shot them, the Border Patrol agent, is someone who had eight years of training on the job. He said that that person was extensively trained.

But one of the major questions here is whether the person who was shot brandished that weapon at law enforcement before he was fatally killed. He said that is evolving and under investigation. Of course, this whole situation incredibly fluid. And we have heard these pleas from local law enforcement, from local officials, including the mayor, Jacob Frey, and Governor Tim Walz, for the Trump administration to take down the temperature, and a direct appeal to remove federal agents from Minnesota. Walz said he made that message clear to the White House in a call earlier this morning, but there are no signs from the Trump administration at this point that they are going to take that path.

President Trump has been briefed, according to a White House official, and we did hear from him just moments ago. I want to read to you a selection from a very lengthy and rambling post to social media on this incident. He says, quote, "The mayor and the governor are inciting insurrection with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric. Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the billions of dollars that have been stolen from the people of Minnesota and the United States of America. Let our ICE patriots do their job. 12,000 illegal alien criminals," he said, "many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there," he says, "you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today."

Now, we do know from local law enforcement that this individual is an American citizen, they believe, and he, according to this official, was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon. But clearly no signs of deescalation from this White House.

We also heard from Stephen Miller. Of course, he is the architect of President Trump's immigration plans. He called the person who was shot a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate federal law enforcement. Of course, it's going to take some time for this investigation to play out. Their motive here has not yet been determined.

And all of this comes as we had seen somewhat of a shift in tone from President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in recent days, conceding that at times it is possible that law enforcement officials on the ground can make mistakes. Of course, they are circling the wagons now, making very clear that they support what happened here.

[14:20:03]

All of this also comes after notable reporting from our colleagues Alayna Treene, Priscilla Alvarez, as well as Kristen Holmes yesterday, prior to this incident taking place, that these ongoing protests that we have seen for weeks now on the streets of Minneapolis have prompted concerns from the Trump administration internally about the optics of this immigration crackdown. The president privately frustrated, they report, that his immigration message is getting lost. But clearly no signs that they are going to step away from this situation at this point, doubling down on that federal law enforcement presence for now.

We'll be watching to see whether we hear any more about whether President Trump plans to invoke the Insurrection Act. That is something that he has weighed in recent weeks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, we'll check back with you there at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right, I'd like to bring in now CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. Julia, you were there in Minneapolis for quite a few days, and you had firsthand account of the intensity between the protesters and federal authorities who are coming out of the federal building. But now we've got a third shooting, the second one, which is deadly. The city's mayor, Jacob Frey, you know, sharply criticizing the federal law enforcement presence there. What more can you tell us about his response and that of other city officials?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just before getting into his response, Fred, one thing that I heard from a person on the ground, just a concerned mother who hadn't even been to these protests. She was just like, how are we supposed to live like this? That frustration, that level of anger, what we've seen in Sara Sidner's live shot earlier today, the reason why so many people are out on the streets is the level of disruption that the deployment of these federal troops has caused in the city. That was time and again what we heard from people there. They were just the level of disruption, the concern for their neighbors, that they felt that they had to come out to the streets. And that's what we saw yesterday with the thousands of people filling the streets of Minneapolis despite that bitter, bitter cold in that city.

And then again, that being echoed by the mayor, Jacob Frey, saying earlier today, describing the video as -- saying that it speaks for itself. More than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and then shooting him to death.

This, of course, as those local officials say that they're still not getting that much information. The chief of police, Brian O'Hara, saying that, you know, they're asking people to stay calm and please not destroy our city. Some powerful words there coming from those officials as well, Fred.

But I want to walk us through that video if we can. And I will warn our viewers again that this could be very upsetting to watch. But this is what we saw from 9:05 this morning as those agents have that altercation. And then, again, we can't see, this is only one angle from a bystander that looks to be across the street from where this is taking place, but a number of agents interacting. And then there it is. That's that gunshot.

And we hear another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- kill that guy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Are that reaction from that bystander.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not again! Are you -- kidding me? That guy is dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And again, Fred, as we said that that is only one angle. The account that we have from DHS is that officers were attempting to disarm this man that they said had a gun, that he resisted. We saw him in that video violently resisting again in the press conference. We just heard just a very brief press conference about six minutes long. Greg Bovino, the commander of CBP, saying that that is still under investigation, whether or not that man brandished the gun. And we heard the analysis earlier from my colleague Josh Campbell, saying that if he had brandished a gun, that would be usually a reason for law enforcement to react. But if not, that would not be the case. Again, only one angle of this video, so much more for us to learn as

we see more and more of that content. You pointed out earlier, we see there are other people filming in that video. We're looking forward to see what else we can learn from those other angles, and also what happened prior to this encounter.

Now, DHS did say that they were carrying out an operation. This man didn't necessarily have something to do with that operation. What I did see, Fred, in the ground in Minneapolis, even through residential neighborhoods, as soon as ICE starts on operation, we hear whistles blowing, people alerting their neighbors that these operations are ongoing. They try to get close to those federal agents. They try to film those federal agents. And that is still going on. That is still very much something that those citizens of Minneapolis have taken very seriously and have tried to do. Now, we don't know what was the relationship of this man to that local, if that is the reason why he was there.

[14:25:04]

But that is just something that we have seen happen time and again is a concerned citizen getting involved, trying to get some sort of accountability for these actions from these federal enforcement, federal agents in Minneapolis, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, Julia Vargas Jones, you make a lot of very important points there, and particularly what preceded the moment where we all saw the video begin, because we don't know, even though we heard from Greg Bovino, he said that the suspect approached the federal authorities and had a weapon, but we don't know if at what point the discovery was made that the officer saw that he had a weapon. We did hear from the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O'Hara, earlier, who said he has a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. So still --

JONES: And if I can add to just that, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, please do.

JONES: I was surprised in the past week, while we were there, as I spoke to other protesters, that people have handguns, they carry handguns, they have a license, and they feel that that is their right, and they bring it out for their protection. It was -- it is not uncommon to see that. So again, very crucial to know how is it that they learned about that handgun, if it was brandished, if there was something that came up to know what why those agents reacted the way they did and eventually killed this person.

WHITFIELD: Right. In the last hour, if you saw, perhaps Sara Sidner's live shot, she was talking to one of the gentlemen that came out in protest, and he admitted to being a licensed gun carrier, and that people do it all the time, I mean, those who are permitted to have their weapons. But we have to hear what precipitated the actual takedown because, I mean, Greg Bovino did say, his words were the suspect approached the agent with a nine-millimeter firearm, but we don't know how that was revealed.

All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

All right, stay with us. We have so much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:42]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACOB FREY, (D) MINNEAPOLIS: I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death.

How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A lot of anguish coming out of Minneapolis right now. A third shooting involving federal agents has taken place. This is the second deadly one. And this took place earlier today just after 9:00 a.m. Minneapolis time. And the Minnesota police chief, Brian O'Hara, said a 37-year-old white male who is a Minnesota resident, an American citizen, was killed. They do know the identity of that gentleman, but they are not revealing it at this time. And the police chief saying that he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

We heard from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who earlier described in a press conference just moments ago that the suspect approached an agent with a nine millimeter firearm, and the Border Patrol agent fired a defensive shot. And they also discovered, according to Bovino, that the suspect had two magazines, and Bovino describing that it looked like he wanted to carry out damage, maximum damage to law enforcement. But very few other details came from that press conference just moments ago.

Joining me right now is CNN law enforcement contributor and retired FBI supervisory agent Steve Moore. Great to see you, sadly, under such circumstances. It's very tense right now in Minneapolis. We heard from the police chief that there's very little cooperation between local authorities and federal authorities. However, we're seeing people continue to be in the streets, meaning residents or people who are very upset with the Trump immigration policies. They continue to be out in the streets, and sometimes they're met with canisters of tear gas and beyond. How do you assess what's taking place right now, and assess some of the information that we've been able to hear from federal and local authorities?

STEVE MOORE, RETIRED SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Well, you know, Fredricka, I don't think there's enough information right now to determine whether the shooting was valid or invalid. I mean, I as a law enforcement officer, FBI agents are plainclothes. At least twice officers have seen my gun, uniformed officers, and pointed their guns at me. The correct response is put your hands up, you know, and let them resolve the issue. So I don't know if they saw a gun and he wouldn't relinquish it. I

don't know what happened. None of us know, which is kind of why it's disturbing that people on both sides are making, like Frey's comments are incendiary and not well thought out, and certainly you can't say right now, whether the shooting was justified.

WHITFIELD: And Steve, I'm sorry. Let me interrupt you. I want to go to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz right now.

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: -- to update the situation, joined here by Hennepin County Sheriff Witt, State Patrol Colonel and General Manke, the adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard.

[14:35:09]

As I said last week, this federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It's a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed another life. I've seen the videos from several angles, and it's sickening.

But I have a strong statement here for our federal, our federal government. Minnesota's justice system will have the last word on this. It must have the last word. As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period.

Let me say something else, and this is critically important. All of us understand what happened this morning and the tragedy of it. And my deepest sympathies to the family of a 37-year-old Minnesota resident, a lawful firearm concealed permit carrier, something that I've been lectured to by Republicans for decades, that it is not only your right, it's your duty.

We know that the potential to further inflame tensions is high. And to Minnesotans, there's a difference. We want calm and peace and normalcy back to our lives. They want chaos. We cannot and we will not give them what they want by meeting violence with violence. Minnesota and our local law enforcement, as you have seen, have done everything possible to de-escalate. Local media has reported extensively on the cooperation to de-escalate this situation.

Donald Trump, I call on you once again, remove this force from Minnesota. They are sowing chaos and violence. We've seen deadly violence from federal agents again and again and again. But in contrast to that, on these frozen streets, what you witnessed yesterday was the best of Minnesotans peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights. And I attended in the church basement hundreds of Minnesotans from all faiths packing care packages for families that have been ripped apart.

Despite the horrific acts by this federal government, Minnesotans are standing up for the rule of law. They're protesting loudly and urgently, but peacefully. It must stay that way, Minnesota. Minnesotans are witnessing, and we're creating a log of evidence for the future prosecution of ICE agents and officials responsible for this. They're helping their neighbors. They're walking their kids to school. They're feeding families. I salute their courage and their restraint.

And I call on all Americans to see the decency that this state is exhibiting, and the horrific cruelty, unprofessional, absolute abomination that is passing for what these ICE agents are doing on our streets. They think they can provoke us into abandoning our values. Well, they're dead wrong. We'll keep the peace. We'll secure the justice with our neighbors, and we'll see this occupation ends.

Minnesotans and Minnesota law enforcement that continuously is being denigrated by this administration will continue to be the adults in the room, the professionals in the room, the decent human beings in the room that will keep the peace.

With this, I'd like to turn it over to the Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson to update you on the situation as we know it. Thanks, Bob.

BOB JACOBSON, COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Thank you, Governor. I'm Bob Jacobson, Commissioner of Public Safety for the Department of Public Safety. And again, it's my honor to serve in that position.

A man was shot and killed this morning in Minneapolis. I want to pause and remember what cannot get lost in this moment. A man died. His family and friends are feeling unimaginable heartbreak and trauma. And I know Minnesotans, and I know our community will rally around this man's family and friends to support him. I also understand clearly that people are upset. They're scared. They're confused. And I want to assure you that this state's public safety officials and our local law enforcement partners are doing everything in our power to get answers to help return a sense of normalcy back to our communities.

You have the right to demonstrate peacefully.

[14:40:00]

We recognize that demonstrations are often driven by strong emotions, beliefs, and a desire to be heard. But please, please remain peaceful. And I want to say it again that it because it is important and it is critical. Peacefully demonstrate. By doing so, you help local authorities to get answers. You help us to do our investigations. By remaining peaceful, you help ensure nobody else may be killed or injured.

The thousands and thousands of people who gathered yesterday in Minneapolis proved that Minnesotans can make their voices heard peacefully, and they can do so without violence, and they can do so without destruction. And state resources are available and ready to support our local law enforcement partners as requested. And those resources include the Minnesota State Patrol, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minnesota National Guard.

With that, well stand for questions. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, you've made this request before. Is

there any reason to believe that it will be answered differently? Have you had any conversations with the president, with the federal government? And is there any indication that they are going to pull out or back down?

WALZ: Well, I spoke twice this morning shortly after I received the call of this shooting. I spoke with the president's chief of staff. And first request was to get her people out of there, to get these federal agents out of there. They were going to cause more chaos. And second call is, with no uncertain terms, that we will investigate this. We will not be stonewalled.

What we've already seen, and you saw it this morning, before any investigation is done, you have the most powerful people in the federal government spinning stories and putting up pictures and unrelated people who we don't know anything about, and a picture of a firearm to try and spin a narrative. And I just I ask Americans, this will end when enough Americans say this will end.

Do I have any confidence Donald Trump will do the right thing? No, I don't have a lot of confidence Donald Trump will do the right thing. I do have a lot of confidence that the majority of the American people will do the right thing. And I think there cannot be very many people across this country looking right now after all the reporting that's been done, after everything that's been said under the pretense that they are here about immigration reform.

And quit referring to these people as law enforcement. They are not law enforcement. We have law enforcement who do an incredible job. And to listen to Greg Bovino denigrate the work of our people who are out there cleaning up their mess, no, I don't have a lot of confidence that he himself will do it.

But here's what I do have confidence in. There's a whole lot of Republicans, for whatever reason, cannot find their spine. But they might find the ability to know that they're not going to win another election as long as they live unless they stand up for what's right and stand up for the rule of law and stand up for human decency. And that's the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a follow up, because then, if that is not the case, what are the people of Minnesota supposed to do who are in the middle right now?

WALZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because if they stonewall, and you're trying to investigate, is that --

WALZ: Yes. No, it's a good question. And look, I'm speaking to the people of Minnesota right now. I hear that scream from you. And I'll continue to plead and ask you for peace.

And I know, I know, the answer is you ask us for peace and we give it, and we get shot in the face on the streets coming out of a donut shop. We cannot give them what they want it. I don't know how to say this in so many terms to watch the madness that we've witnessed over this last week coming out of the White House and what it's doing here. My confidence is, and I say it to Minnesotans, as I've said, exercise your First Amendment rights, speak out, bear witness and document legally.

But I understand the risk in that, and I understand the courage that it takes to have people out there doing this. Thank God, thank God we have video, because according to DHS, these seven heroic guys took an onslaught of a battalion against them or something. It's nonsense, people. It is nonsense, and it's lies.

So my confidence is this Minnesotans -- you know who you are, and you demonstrate it every single day. And we damn sure know who these people are. The American public knows, and this needs to be the event that says enough.

Go ahead. No, up front.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor, can you or Commissioner Davidson speak to the fact that you talk about you don't trust the federal government to handle this investigation. We know with the Renee Good shooting, BCA said that they were blocked from accessing evidence.

[14:45:03]

Has there been any suggestion that BCA is not allowed to do this investigation? Do you have officers on the ground doing the investigation right now?

JACOBSON: The question was related to whether or not the BCA is on the ground currently with the investigation, and a reference to a previous investigations of the BCA have attempted to be a part of. What I'll tell you right now is that we no longer have BCA agents or public safety, state patrol, or Minneapolis on the ground at that crime scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that an instruction by the federal government, or did you pull your agents out?

JACOBSON: What I will tell you, and not to get further into the investigation, but DHS pulled out of the scene, leaving that to Minnesota state patrol Minneapolis. We did not have enough resources to be able to hold that ground safely, and we had to leave that scene because of the number of people that were available and the safety of those in the public and the safety of our of our teams.

We were able to get there. But at that time, we were not able to hold that scene to do a crime scene investigation. I can't talk any more about that, those details.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the investigation, if not -- or state officials right now.

JACOBSON: We'll have more on that. But the BCA is engaged and involved, and we are working at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department on this, on the scene, and in this investigation. So we are there. We're available. We want to make sure that we continue to work on this and engage with our federal law enforcement. But at this point we don't have anything more to share about the crime scene. Again, we were not able to hold it. We wanted to make sure and keep people safe. But federal law enforcement left the scene and left us there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, -- with The New York Times. Have you activated the National Guard? I know that the sheriff -- has requested for additional assistance. Can you tell us whether they're going to be playing a role?

WALZ: Yes. Yes, the answer is yes, we have, as we said last week, and we staged those troops. I'll have General Manke talk about where they're at. And, again, use this as an opportunity to stress to Minnesotans, the frustration you have, and as you saw this, they killed a man, created chaos, pushed down protesters, threw gas indiscriminately, and then left the scene. And then we're left to clean up. I understand the anger. I understand trying to parse who were the law enforcement on the scene when you got there after a man was killed is difficult for folks are out there.

But I can't stress enough, our goal, and I'll have General Manke talk about what the role of these Guard troops are in conjunction with incredible work from the Hennepin County Sheriff's office, from mutual aid across and, of course, the state patrol, of trying to get to the point where what we're saying is we can handle this, and Minnesotans can express their First Amendment rights, and have our folks on the streets and get these people out of here.

And so, Shawn, if you want to talk a little bit, but the answer is yes, there's activated. He can talk to you about numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To be clear, governor, activated is different than having --

WALZ: Yes.

MAJ. GEN. SHAWN MANKE, MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD: So the question is, what's the National Guard doing right now? So we have -- we have been on state active duty for over a week. So we've had soldiers prepared in the metro area to respond in a much rapid manner than if they were not mobilized.

So we have a request from the Hennepin County Sheriffs to support them, and that is to help them free up additional resources for other work that they need to do. And we have started coordinating with them this morning on that. And that first, first area of support will be assisting them with their requirement to provide security to the Whipple building. So we'll be helping them there.

And then we are in parallel planning with the other organizations within the state of Minnesota to include the state patrol, the Minnesota DNR, and other local agencies to render assistance if requested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you say how many are now deployed? MANKE: I would say that the number that we have is adequate for the

request that we have right now. And I will also tell you that we are bringing more resources that will be able to respond in a timely manner that are not fully mobilized yet, but we are mobilizing more soldiers as we talk at this time.

I'd like not to get into specific numbers from an operational security standpoint, but right now we have all the resources to meet the requests that we have

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Walz?

WALZ: I would note on this one, too, that well be billing the federal government for the cost of the National Guard because they are incurring the costs that are falling on us by their reckless actions.

Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You alluded to this earlier, but are you -- the narrative that has been presented by federal officials that this man, 37 year old Minneapolis, posed a threat to these agents? And are you rejected the idea that he played some role with the weapon and due to his --

[14:50:00]

WALZ: I'm rejecting the rush to judgment within 15 minutes of this, which they did last time, that that's why you need to have a fair investigation. And that's why a video can show one thing, but what happened beforehand? But they already will slander this individual. They've already made this the case. And I will just say you will all start to see it, and some of you probably have. There's multiple angles of this.

And I'll go back to what we talked about before. They're telling you not to trust your eyes and ears, not to trust the facts that you're seeing in front of them. And at some point in time, your reporting, and I think the reporting this week has been spectacular across Minnesota, that there's not two sides to every story. But in this situation, what I'm saying is, is we need to have a fair investigation, understanding what's happening and held accountable.

We continue to hear, and we heard it from the vice president, that these folks can do whatever they want. They can have full immunity. And what I'm telling you is they will not. There will be justice to Minnesotans, continue to gather the information.

So I won't say where it is because I think it's irresponsible to make that judgment. But what I see with my eyes and what you're going to see with your eyes makes that pretty hard to believe. And I would imagine as a federal officer, they would have come out and sounded like these professionals sound, and say, we need to gather the information. We need to gather all the facts, we need to put them forward, and then we can make some informed decision based on the facts. They've written the narrative already. And the audacity to critique

the police chief of Minneapolis after what work that those heroic officers are trying to do, and to be critiqued by this guy, I mean, I don't know. I've said it a lot, but America, as you're listening. Enough is enough. Enough is enough of this and this and this. And we see them moving to Maine. If you're in Boston, you're in Chicago, you're in Philly, you're in Miami, it doesn't matter, this -- we can't live like this. Our children are in trauma. A five-year-old, you saw the picture, the bunny hat and the Spiderman. These are not like some narrative to throw around, to parade around in some coat you had made and act like you're a tough guy or whatever. These are people's lives. And we have rule of law.

So I'll let the investigation play itself out. We will do our best to find it. But I don't know. You kill a man and then you just leave your law enforcement, you just leave. Is there a single case in American history where you just, like, walk away and say, I guess that just happened, and we're not going to clean up our mess?

I'm proud of -- I'm proud of Minnesotans. I'm proud of law enforcement here and our partners, and we'll get to the bottom of it.

I think we have time for another one. So yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- ICE commander did a press conference within the hour. They're calling on state and local law enforcement to, quote, "help coordinate to get violent criminals off the street." What's your response to that request?

WALZ: I'm better off to let these guys, the professionals. I have my thoughts.

JACOBSON: So the question was, what are we doing to assist federal law enforcement on getting violent criminals off the street, if I understand the question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Greg Bovino said that in a press conference, he was calling on state and local law enforcement. So what is your response to --

WALZ: State and local law enforcement are always ready and willing and able to arrest violent offenders. We do not stand down from that. No matter where we get that information from, if there are violent offenders or violent criminals or violent crimes, we will investigate and we'll bring those to justice.

If the federal government would like to work with us, to continue to work with us as they have in the past, to locate those violent offenders, we are always open to those discussions and always willing to assist. We do not ignore that. We are ready and able, and we do do that.

All of you, as part of the media, hear us arresting violent offenders all the time. We have not stood down. That is our mission. The federal government is not alone in arresting violent offenders. State and local law enforcement does that every day at great risk to their life, at great risk to the community. We do it because we want a safe Minnesota, and the federal government is not the only one to do that.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, you're hearing it, a frustration and sadness coming from state, Minnesota state now, officials, the governor as well as, the public safety commissioner there. The governor, Governor Tim Walz, saying it's a "campaign of brutality against our state", his words, describing the federal approach to its immigration policies there. And the governor saying, thank goodness for videotape, because he has seen what transpired earlier today from several angles, he says, and it is sickening.

[14:55:00]

A 37-year-old man, who the governor also underscores, the same message came that came from the Minneapolis police chief, that a lawful firearm concealed permit carrier is what that man was. And the governor says, we want calm and peace back to our lives, "they", meaning the federal government, want chaos. And now the governor says, because of what he calls these sickening actions of the federal government, he is left -- their state is left to cleaning up their mess.

We're going to continue our coverage here of what is now the third shooting involving federal agents there in Minneapolis this month. This is the second deadly one taking place, involving a 37-year-old man, a white male, as described by the police chief earlier, someone who was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

Let's go now to the White House and our Betsy Klein, who is there. Are you hearing anything more, particularly a response from the president when you have the governor who singled him out, you know, saying this makes no sense, and it's time to end these federal policies being carried out in Minneapolis.

KLEIN: That's right. I mean, I think we are just witnessing this remarkable back and forth playing out between local and federal and state officials right now in the aftermath of this third shooting of a person in Minneapolis in the last month.

Now, it's hard to envision how this ends, and we are seeing this deep tension really play out here. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, he said that he spoke with chief of staff Susie Wiles. He said that he gave her two requests. The first, he said, was to get these federal agents out of here. The second was that he was making clear that his state will take the lead on the investigation. He said, quote, "Minnesota's justice system will have the last word on this."

He also said that he told the White House, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, that the federal government, in his words, cannot be trusted to handle this investigation. He said the state will handle it, period.

He also made a direct appeal to President Trump to remove this force from Minnesota. He said they are sowing chaos and violence. He also said that the state of Minnesota plans to bill the federal government for the use of the National Guard. Of course, you can see that that is something that is likely to get played out in the court system in the coming months and potentially years.

We know that President Trump has been briefed according to a White House official, and the president reacting to this shooting with a very lengthy post about an hour ago. He is standing firmly behind these officers, including the U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot this 37-year-old man. There are really no signs of de-escalation here. He's lashed out at Mayor Frey of Minneapolis as well as Governor Walz. He said they are, quote, "inciting insurrection with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric."

We also heard from Stephen Miller, who's really the architect of President Trump's immigration policy here. He called the person who was shot a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.

We also heard from U.S. Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino in a press conference last hour. He said that this person wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. He did, however, indicate that this is going to be under investigation. Of course, it's going to take some time for that to play out. The tensions on the ground are incredibly high.

But I also want to point you to some very notable reporting from our colleagues Alayna Treene, Priscilla Alvarez, and Kristen Holmes from yesterday. Again, this is prior to this incident, but their reporting indicated that these ongoing protests, the images that the White House was seeing out of Minnesota, have prompted concerns for some in the Trump administration about the optics of this immigration crackdown. The president himself privately frustrated that his immigration message is not getting out.

We know that the president has weighed invoking the Insurrection Act. That is that centuries old law that allows a president to deploy troops domestically. We don't know at this point whether this situation changes his calculus on that. But as of last week, there are about 1,500 active duty U.S. troops that were positioning to potentially be deployed to Minnesota. We'll have to see how this weighs on that decision, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, keep us posted there from the White House. Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right, if you're just now joining us, we're following breaking news out of Minnesota. Officials confirming that a 37-year- old Minneapolis man who Homeland Security says was armed, has been killed after an incident with federal agents during an anti-ICE protest in the city. It's not clear what caused the shooting, but video posted online shows officers wrestling a person down on a sidewalk before what sounds like gunshots.