Noem says her response to Pretti shooting may have been wrong
Source: Politico
01/29/2026 10:59 PM EST
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has conceded she may have gotten some information wrong in her initial response to Border Patrols killing of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis ICU nurse she labeled a domestic terrorist.
Noem also dodged questions about her leadership of DHS amid widespread outrage, even among some Republicans, about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good during an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Noem, who said Pretti committed an act of domestic terrorism against immigration agents despite videos showing otherwise, told Fox News on Thursday that the situation immediately following the killing was very chaotic, and the details she presented to reporters came from initial reports from Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis.
We were being relayed information from on the ground from CBP agents and officers that were there, Noem said. We were using the best information we had at the time.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/29/noem-pretti-shooting-00756830
PJMcK
(24,935 posts)You were unquestionably wrong. Your shoot-from-the-hip responses demonstrate your lack of judgment, your lack of knowledge and your lack of humanity. Your entire behavior has been un-American.
Step aside, resign, sit down and shut up. Youll never hold office again and youll be lucky to avoid criminal charges.
Asshat.
travelingthrulife
(4,916 posts)They must be harshly punished.
2naSalit
(101,411 posts)Even here she lies! JHFC.
Irish_Dem
(80,517 posts)MLWR
(931 posts)travelingthrulife
(4,916 posts)Are those oaths they take completely meaningless?
Javaman
(65,466 posts)she's trying to scrape the shit off her, but she's made of shit.
mwooldri
(10,802 posts)(is the sarcasm tag really necessary here?)
If that was her best information.... then at best it seems to me she lacks critical thinking skills. I'm sure someone would have shown her the video before she went out there labelling Alex Pretti a "domestic terrorist".
travelingthrulife
(4,916 posts)This is why they need to be punished with substantial prison time.
ColoringFool
(486 posts)Asking for my friend Cricket.
Botany
(76,854 posts)Bald faced liar. We were using the best information we had at the time. She had access
to the videos and the federal agents body cameras videos.
Call it what it is Trumps war on American people on the streets of Minneapolis.
Aussie105
(7,744 posts)You change the story until your audience finds it acceptable.
The very fluidity of the story line is the problem.
eg
Mom to 5 year old son: Did you touch the cookie jar?
Son: nope!
Mom: so those crumbs on your mouth, where did they come from?
Son: OK, I did take a cookie.
Mom: The jar is empty. How come?
Son: I might have had more than one.
You just change the story and watch your audience to see which version they find acceptable.
Not a good look Noem.
You are not a 5 year old trying to convince your mom.
mitch96
(15,741 posts)dlk
(13,216 posts)Norm is changing her tune. If her lips are moving
E. Normus
(113 posts)exactly what happened. Her knee jerk response was of course to lie. This is what her higher ups want her to do, as they also do as a matter of course. It's all coming down to something. Something that can only be redeemed by fire!
Martin68
(27,391 posts)Harker
(17,625 posts)Bengus81
(9,991 posts)Bayard
(29,130 posts)She has the same attitude about these two murder victims as she had for her dog and goat.
Cirsium
(3,721 posts)Such a liar.
LetMyPeopleVote
(177,541 posts)After federal agents killed Renee Good, polls showed a public backlash. After federal agents killed Alex Pretti, it got worse.
On Capitol Hill, a growing number of lawmakers â including a handful of Senate Republicans â want Kristi Noem to resign or be fired.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-05T21:30:17.893Z
A new poll shows the American mainstream agrees. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/kristi-noem-dhs-popularity-national-poll
The American mainstream didnt buy it. A national Economist/YouGov poll, for example, found the vast majority of Americans are familiar with what transpired in Minneapolis, and by a 20-point margin, people saw the shooting as unjustified (50% vs. 30%). The same poll also found that a 47% plurality said ICE is making Americans less safe, while a 46% plurality said ICE should be abolished altogether.
Around the same time, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 57% of Americans disapproved of the way ICE was enforcing immigration laws, while 40% approved......
As bad as this looks for the presidents agenda, theres yet another element of the results that stood out for me. From Quinnipiacs review of its data:
Nearly 6 out of 10 voters (58 percent) think Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should be removed from her job, while 34 percent think she should remain in her job.
A strong no confidence vote for the beleaguered top cop at Homeland Security whose agencys job performance is considered dismal enough by voters that she should be let go, [Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said].
On Capitol Hill, a growing, bipartisan group of lawmakers have called for Noems ouster, and the number of House Democrats backing an impeachment resolution against the South Dakota Republican is up to 187.
Whether Trump cares or not, the DHS secretary is an increasingly obvious political liability.