Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara delivered a fiery condemnation following Saturday’s shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti at the hands of a Border Patrol agent.

In a gripping interview on Face the Nation Sunday, CBS’s Margaret Brennan asked O’Hara to weigh in on claims from federal officials that Pretti was assaulting border patrol agents.

“Is there any evidence that you know of that Pretti was assaulting the federal officers, as the Border Patrol chief claims?” Brennan asked.

“Well, I have seen the videos, just as thousands of people around the country have, and the videos speak for themselves,” O’Hara replied. “I think it’s deeply concerning the things that are being said. This is an individual that was a city resident. It appears that he was present, exercising his First Amendment rights to record law enforcement activity and also exercising his Second Amendment rights to lawfully be armed in a public space in the city. So I think very obviously, there are serious questions that are being raised. And I think the greater issue is, even if there is an investigation that ultimately proves that at the time of the shooting it was legally justified, I don’t think that even matters at this point, because there just- there is so much outrage and concern around what is happening in the city.”

Brennan followed up on the stunning comment from O’Hara that an investigative finding that the shooting was justified would not matter.

“What do you mean it does not matter at this point?” Brennan asked. “You mean the situation on the ground is already- the impression is left?”

“People have had enough!” O’Hara replied. “This is the third shooting now in less than three weeks. The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds and hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn’t shoot anyone. And now this is the second American citizen that has been killed. It’s the third shooting within three weeks. People have been speaking out, saying that this was going to happen again. And I think everyone is kind of waiting for folks on both sides to come together and just figure this thing out. This is not sustainable. This police department has only 600 police officers. We are stretched incredibly thin. This is taking an enormous toll trying to manage all of this chaos, on top of having to be the police department for a major city. It’s too much.”

O’Hara went on to denounce the claim of Vice President JD Vance — who said “local police have been told to stand down when immigration authorities call 911 asking for help dealing with crowds surrounding them.”

“Were you ever ordered to stand down?” Brennan asked. “Have police been told not to protect ICE?”

“It is deeply disappointing to have anyone question and disparage the hard work of the men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department,” O’Hara replied. “There are 600 police officers that are left here after the destruction of the city in 2020, and they are doing an incredible job. About a dozen of our cops have been injured responding to a lot of the chaos that has resulted on the streets. Our officers respond every time there’s a threat to someone’s life, to public safety or destruction in the city. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s because ICE is there or someone from the community is there. We are doing everything that we can to manage this chaos. But there’s only 600 cops here, and there’s thousands of immigration agents here.”

Watch above, via CBS

The post ‘People Have Had Enough!’ Minneapolis Police Chief Delivers Fiery Condemnation of Latest Shooting in Gripping CBS Interview first appeared on Mediaite.

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