Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the death of a nurse in Minnesota was a result \u200dof \u2018deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders\u2019.<\/b>
\nThe White House said on Monday that US President Donald Trump does not \u200cwant to see people getting hurt or killed on the streets \u200dof the United States but will not back down from efforts to deport \u201cviolent criminal illegal aliens\u201d from Minnesota.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed journalists after the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex \u2060Pretti on Saturday by federal officers drew outrage from Americans. It was the second fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minnesota this month.
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear about the circumstances which led to that moment on Saturday. This tragedy occurred as a result \u200dof a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota for weeks,\u201d Leavitt said.
Video \u200dfrom the scene, verified by Reuters, contradicts the Trump administration\u2019s account that immigration agents fired in self-defence after Pretti approached them with \u200ca handgun.
Footage shows Pretti holding a phone \u2013 not a gun \u2013 as agents wrestle him to \u200dthe ground. It also shows officers removing a firearm stored near his waistband after he was subdued, moments before they fatally shot him. Pretti was a licensed gun owner.
Leavitt said Trump \u201cwill never back down \u200cfrom \u2060his promise to deport violent criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again, and he welcomes all cooperation in that effort\u201d.<\/p>\n