Moderate Republicans like Murkowski aren’t the only ones in the party criticising the immigration operation in Minnesota.
In recent days some of Trump’s allies in Congress also began speaking out against the shootings, though most issued carefully worded statements that didn’t explicitly mention the president.
“There are serious unanswered questions about federal use of force in Minnesota. Transparency and accountability are essential,” said Representative Max Miller of Ohio, a former Trump adviser.
Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called on the heads of ICE and other agencies to testify before Congress. Garbarino also came out in support of a full investigation into Pretti’s shooting.
“Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” Garbarino said.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas issued a more direct criticism of the administration after the Pretti shooting. But he focused on the administration’s rhetoric in response to the shooting and didn’t break with Trump’s larger agenda.
“What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they’re describing this – that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing that we took out a violent terrorist, hooray,” Cruz said Monday on his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
The Republican response also is complicated by the gun ownership debate that has pitted the administration against the National Rifle Association, a traditional ally of the political right. A Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Los Angeles said in a social media post after Pretti’s death that people who approach law enforcement officials armed should expect that there is a “high likelihood” they’ll get shot.
The NRA slammed the remarks. “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalisations and demonising law-abiding citizens,” the NRA said in a statement.
Some Republican lawmakers defend immigration enforcement underway in Minneapolis and other US cities. Trump’s immigration policies remain popular with the party’s base, and after the recent shootings in Minneapolis some Republican voters in the state told the BBC they didn’t think the president should do anything differently.
“They’re just doing their job, which is right,” Jay Cielinski, said of ICE in an interview Tuesday in his hometown of Zimmerman, a roughly 50-minute drive north of Minneapolis.
The 59-year-old home inspector and self-described Trump supporter also said protesters, and state and local officials shouldn’t interfere with federal immigration operations, a view echoed by many Republicans including Trump and other senior administration officials.
“They should stay at home, stay out of the way,” Cielinski said of people who protest federal immigration operations. “Law enforcement officials at the city, state, county [levels] should be encouraging ICE to go in. They should expose the people that are illegal.”
Still, the cautious rebukes from Cruz and other prominent Republicans in Washington signaled an attempt to hold the administration accountable without alienating supporters like Cielinski.