Minnesota ICE live updates: Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino ‘sent home’ over Alex Pretti shooting backlash – UK Times

Melania Trump has made a rare political statement in the wake of Alex Pretti’s shooting by federal agents.

The first lady urged protestors to continue demonstrating peacefully and gave a small insight into her husband’s phone call with Tim Walz.

“I’m calling for unity,” Melania said. “I know my husband, the president, had a great call with the governor and the mayor.

“And, they’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots.

“I’m against violence, so, please, if you protest, protest in peace,” she continued. “We need to unify in this time.”

The federal operatives will play a security role and will not run any immigration enforcement, AP sources told Sky News.

However, the news has sparked fury in Italy with Milan’s Mayor, Giuseppe Sala, telling a radio station that ICE “was not welcome in Milan, there is no doubt about it”.

He also described the organization as a “militia that kills” and blasted them for allegedly entering homes without authorization, according to La Figaro.

The Holocaust Museum has slammed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for suggesting that ICE’s activities in the state mimic the capture and murder of Anne Frank by the Nazis.

“Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish,” the museum wrote on X. “Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable.

“Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges.”

Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino has allegedly been stripped of his “commander at large” title, a sourced told Reuters.

The controversial federal agent was slammed after he claimed that journalists and Democrats had created the tensions that led to the shooting of Alex Pretti.

Pretti, 37, was killed by a border patrol agent supporting ICE’s brutal crackdown in Minnesota.

However, the Trump administration has pushed back on the rumours that Bovino has been stripped of his role.

“Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,” the DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Reuters.

She also pointed to earlier comments from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who praised Bovino as a “key part of the president’s team and a great American”.

Britain, one of the U.S.’s closest allies, has ruled out copying Donald Trump’s controversial immigration crackdowns.

The country’s home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the U.K’s approach to policing its communities “could not be more different” to the United States.

She ruled out an armed crackdown on immigration and praised the U.K’s current immigration enforcement teams.

Kristi Noem was branded “ICED BARBIE” by the New York Post after Border Czar Tom Homan was sent to Minneapolis to calm rising tensions in the city.

The normally Trump-friendly newspaper mocked Noem’s nickname of “ICE Barbie,” which references her enthusiasm for deporting people and her often glamorous appearance.

She reportedly met with Trump late last night in a meeting aimed at saving her job, after she claimed that 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti was gunned down when he “brandished” a fire arm. Her account has been disputed by a variety of sources.

Amid tensions at home in the U.S., American warships have arrived in the Middle East.

The region has been holding its breath as Donald Trump weighs up strikes on Iran, following weeks of deadly protests across the country.

The massive USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers have arrived in the region, after Trump promised an “armada” was on its way.

“We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case … I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on Thursday. “We have an armada … heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”

Tensions in Iran have reached an all-time high as protestors call for an end to Ayotollah Khamenei’s regime. The Human Rights Activists News Agency told Time magazine that over 5,459 people have been confirmed dead in the uprisings.

However, two senior officials in Tehran’s health ministry told Time that the real number is closer to 30,000 deaths.

The alleged meeting took place in the Oval Office and lasted two hours. Sources told The New York Times that the secret discussions were organized by Noem, with Karoline Leavitt, Steven Cheung and Susie Wiles also joining the meeting.

It is unknown whether Noem will remain in-post, as tensions in Minnesota continue to build.

The controversial DHS Secretary was quick to accuse Pretti of brandishing a gun, although reports of him waving a firearm are disputed.

She was also criticized for suggesting that Renee Good, who was killed by ICE agents earlier in January, was engaged in “domestic terrorism.”

Donald Trump and Kristi Noem’s ICE crackdown in Minnesota could soon fall apart, writes Eric Garcia, The Independent’s senior Washington correspondent.

The shooting of Alex Pretti has ignited a national debate about the legality of the crackdown, worsening the president’s already dire poll ratings.

But the shooting is not just an approval ratings issue for Trump, it also comes at a crucial time for his Republican Party.

Congress needs to pass a handful of spending bills soon in order to avoid a partial shutdown, including its bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE and CBP.

And, unlike the killing of Good by an ICE agent earlier this month, Republican senators seem to be queasy about the way Pretti’ was gunned down by CBP officials.

Eric Garcia has the full story…

Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears as he paid tribute to Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents.

The late-night show host urged people on the right to join the opposition to Trump.

“I know it takes a lot of courage to go against your tribe, or whatever it is,” he said. “But that’s what we need.

“We need some decent people on the right to show some courage and some common sense.”