FBI Director Kash Patel said more arrests are coming in Minnesota in the midst of a federal operation and local protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and said the bureau has made progress in its investigation of groups who are allegedly funding the demonstrations.
Speaking to podcaster Benny Johnson on Monday, the FBI director said the bureau is investigating alleged group funding of ongoing protests against ICE officials in Minneapolis, coming in the wake of two shootings this month that left protesters dead.
“We’ve got also investigations ongoing into the funding of this. We’ve made substantial progress,” he said. “We’ve actually found groups and individuals responsible for funding it ’cause it’s not happening organically.”
Also in the interview, Patel said four people were arrested earlier this month after a federal vehicle was broken into in Minneapolis. He said that another person was arrested on Sunday.
The FBI last week announced it would be offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and capture of individuals who allegedly stole government property out of an FBI vehicle.
Videos from the scene circulating on social media appear to show Pretti holding an object in his hand as he struggles with agents. The man’s family said in a statement shared by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that Pretti was “clearly not holding a gun” but instead had “his phone in his right hand, and his empty left hand is raised above his head.
Earlier this month, Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Videos show she was driving her Honda Pilot toward the officer when he fired at her. Federal authorities said the officer was struck by the vehicle and hospitalized with internal bleeding.
The Trump administration has defended the ICE agent involved in the shooting, saying his life was at risk. Local and national Democratic officials say both shootings were unjustified and have now warned they could move to shut down the federal government before a Jan. 30 funding deadline if funding for DHS, the agency that oversees ICE, is included in the package.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also decried the shooting of Pretti, with Obama claiming it’s a sign that “many of our core values” are “increasingly under assault.” In a statement Sunday, Clinton also offered critical comments about the Minneapolis operation and condemned the events leading to Pretti’s death.
