For the second time in less than a month, President Trump's top officials rushed to declare that a U.S. citizen killed by U.S. immigration agents was a "domestic terrorist."
Why it matters: The Trump administration isn't waiting for an investigation before sharing conclusions about the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Good and the Jan. 24 killing of Alex Pretti.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller both accused Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, of being a domestic terrorist.
- "Violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and to perpetuate violence. That is the definition of domestic terrorism," Noem said at a Saturday press conference at FEMA's National Response Coordination Center.
- Noem did not say what evidence there was to back up their claims on Pretti's ideology: "He was there to perpetuate violence, and he was asked to show up and to continue to resist by a governor who's irresponsible and has a long history of corruption and lying, and we won't stand for it anymore," she said.
The other side: "The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting," Pretti's parents said in a statement to CNN.
- "Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed," they said.
- "Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact," they said.
Between the lines: The Trump administration has expanded the definition of domestic terrorism, notably with a national security memo that argues there's a coordinated campaign of political violence in the country.
- It claims antifa, a decentralized movement against fascism, is a domestic terrorist organization. But there is not a legal authority to label a domestic organization as terrorists, experts say.
- This week a viral video of a woman in Maine filming DHS agents during an operation showed more people are falling into this category. The woman was told by an agent that she was a domestic terrorist and being added to "a nice little database."
Zoom in: Local law enforcement has been denied access to the crime scene to carry out an investigation, even after obtaining a judicial warrant, according to the state's top investigations agency.
- Investigations of federal officer-involved shootings typically are done in tandem between local and federal investigators.
- "We are continuing to follow the exact same protocols that we always have, and so this investigation is ongoing," Noem said.
Zoom out: Noem characterized the event as a "violent riot" and said that the border patrol agent who fired the fatal shots was afraid for his life and the lives of his fellow officers — a benchmark for justifiable use of deadly force from a law enforcement officer.
- "I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons," Noem said.
The big picture: The characterizations of the victim's actions and the restricted access to investigate the crime scene mirror the aftermath of the killing of Renee Good.
- Former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys raised concerns that excluding local investigators from the process in Good's case would erode public trust that there would be accountability.
- Noem said that it was Minnesota's elected officials who deserved more scrutiny, and top Minneapolis and Minnesota officials have recently been subpoenaed.
- "They have confirmed, they've been subpoenaed, and they will be in front of a grand jury to get that criminal investigation unfolding and to disclose the kind of fraud that they have allowed to happen," Noem said.
Go deeper: The details we know on Saturday's shooting
