DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is under serious fire after her knee-jerk comments following the shooting death of Alex Pretti.
This has led to Noem being removed from the picture in Minnesota, with Tom Homan now taking over.
Something else that should pacify all parties is that the agents involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
I need everyone to forget about any videos or allegations that have surfaced since the death of Alex Pretti for just a second, and go back to those moments after the death was announced and the reaction by Noem and top Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
Shortly after the shooting, Noem had called Pretti a domestic terrorist, and Miller had characterized him as an assassin. In that amount of time, there was simply no way enough facts were gathered to make such a claim, and they were both out of line.
In that moment, the blanket statement from the administration should have been that this was a tragedy; they were saddened by the loss of life, but comments regarding the shooting would be reserved pending the outcome of a full investigation, which would be expedited.
Noem’s knee-jerk reaction resulted in Democrats calling for her immediate removal or the threat of impeachment. Trump has stood by Noem thus far, but if those agents are found to have broken any protocols, I truly believe that Noem will be sacrificed by Trump, and her political career will be over.
Border czar Tom Homan was sent in to clean this mess up, and he has already started holding conversations. He is now working on de-escalating the situation.
Reports broke on Thursday that Homan plans to draw down ICE and CBP operations in the state to allow things to calm down and get those protesters off the streets.
Homan pulled no punches, stating, "I do not want to hear that everything that's been done here has been perfect. Nothing's perfect, anything can be improved on, and what we've been working on is making this operation safer, more efficient, by the book. The mission is going to improve because of the changes we're making internally."
But Homan was also adamant that the overall mission would continue. I expect some type of deal to be reached, that is, unless Governor Tim Walz or Mayor Jacob Frey decides to grandstand and go for political points over a workable solution.
As part of the investigation, the Border Patrol officers who were involved in the shooting of Pretti have been placed on leave.
This is standard operating procedure for a shooting, but the public announcement was likely to appease people who are demanding these agents be brought up on charges. The fact that they are on leave means they are off the streets, so that just might take this temperature down a few degrees.
Trump has also talked directly to Governor Walz, stating, “Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. Both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!”
At this point, I think Noem being relieved is just a matter of time. Trump is digging in now because of the calls for her removal by Democrats, but I think Trump will eventually suggest she step down, possibly finding a different role for her to allow her to save face. For my money, Homan should be elevated to DHS secretary, as he was on my leaderboard from the outset for this position.
