AFP USA

A branch of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help with security for the Winter Olympics in Italy, it confirmed Tuesday, sparking anger and warnings they were not welcome.Reports had been circulating for days that the agency embroiled in an often brutal immigration crackdown in the United States could be involved in US security measures for the February 6-22 Games in northern Italy.In a statement to AFP, ICE said: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations.”All security operations remain under Italian authority.”The State Department said that the HSI has in the past taken part in other Olympics events.”As in previous Olympic events, multiple federal agencies are supporting the Diplomatic Security Service, including Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative component,” a State Department spokesperson said.  “For the Olympics, the United States is preparing an operations room at its consulate in Milan where representatives from U.S. agencies potentially interested in the event will be present,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a statement after a meeting with the US ambassador in Rome. “Experts from the Department of Homeland Security will also be in this same room,” he added.According to Piantedosi, these experts are present “in more than 50 countries and have been in Italy for years as well,” emphasising that “security operations within the country are the sole responsibility of the Italian authorities”. Piantedosi specified that approximately 6,000 law enforcement personnel would be deployed, along with the use of drones and other aerial surveillance equipment, to ensure security at the Games.According to the ICE website, the HSI investigates global threats, including the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of, and through the United States. ICE made clear its operations in Italy were separate from the domestic immigration crackdown, which is being carried out by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) department.”Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries,” it said.- Vance and Rubio in Milan -The protection of US citizens during Olympic Games overseas is led by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).Yet the outrage over ICE immigration operations in the United States is shared among many in Italy, following the deaths of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.The leftist mayor of Milan, which is hosting several Olympic events, said ICE was “not welcome”.”This is a militia that kills. It’s clear that they are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it, Giuseppe Sala told RTL 102.5 radio.”Can’t we just say no to (US President Donald) Trump for once?”Alessandro Zan, a member of the European Parliament for the centre-left Democratic Party, condemned it as “unacceptable”.”In Italy, we don’t want those who trample on human rights and act outside of any democratic control,” he wrote on X.Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay any role, suggesting they would help only in security for the US delegation.US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6.Giovanni Malago, president of the Milan-Cortina organising committee, said he believed ICE agents would be present “for the high-ranking US government officials” and have “nothing to do with the Games’ security aspects”.”It’s not about the Olympics, but about individuals,” he said.The International Olympic Committee, when contacted by AFP, replied that “security at the Olympic Games is the responsibility of the authorities of the host country, who work closely with the participating delegations”.”We kindly refer you to the USOPC (the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee)”, it said. 

Celebrities from movie stars to pop singers are speaking up with calls to action against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids after two Americans were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.From red-carpet premieres to social media, the usually politics-averse celebrity crowd have been swept up in the fray after the shooting death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, on Saturday. Below are some of the appeals for action by celebrities expressing their discontent with President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown:- Pedro Pascal -The Chilean-American actor shared a series of posts on his Instagram, calling for a national strike to protest the killings and demanding more transparency from the federal government on the actions of ICE agents. “Truth is a line of demarcation between a democratic government and authoritarian regime,” Pascal wrote, as he paid tribute to Pretti and another US citizen killed in Minneapolis this month, 37-year-old Renee Good. “The American people deserve to know what happened,” he added.- Jamie Lee Curtis -Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis also joined the call for national protests against ICE raids. “THESE WERE AMERICANS! SHOT BY OUR GOVERNMENT!” she wrote in a post on Sunday accompanied by drawings of Pretti’s and Good’s faces. On Tuesday, she shared a photo of Minneapolis and captioned it: “I BELIEVE IN US!”- Martha Stewart – The businesswoman behind a domestic goods empire took to her Instagram to speak out after she was encouraged by her 14-year-old granddaughter, she said. “I am disheartened and sad each and every day… that we are told immigrants, which most of us are or descended from are unwelcome,” wrote the 84-year-old Stewart. She also expressed discontent that “we cannot show our frustration in peaceful demonstrations and that we can be attacked and even killed by Federal troops.”- Katy Perry -The “Firework” singer posted on her Instagram story to urge her American followers to call their elected representatives in the US Senate, urging them to pressure ICE through budget oversight. “Turn anger into action,” the 41-year-old singer wrote.- Kerry Washington -The “Scandal” actress posted a video to her 7.6 million Instagram followers explaining step-by-step how to call their elected representatives and demand funding be blocked for ICE. “You are not powerless over what’s happening in Minnesota,” she said. There is something you can do about it right now.” Washington then demonstrated calling her representative’s office in California on camera.- Billie Eilish -The 24-year-old singer-songwriter called out other celebrities to speak on Pretti’s death. “Hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?” the nine-time Grammy winner wrote in an Instagram story post.Eilish has since shared posts denouncing tactics used by ICE during their immigration raids. 

Donald Trump warned Tuesday of “very bad things” if Republicans lose the US midterm elections, as the US president kicked off a travel blitz under the shadow of unrest in Minneapolis and voter worries about the economy.At a rally in Iowa — one of the first stops for primary campaigns in US presidential elections — Trump said his party must win both the Senate and the House in November despite his own poor approval ratings.”I’m here because I love Iowa, but I’m here because we’re starting the campaign to win the midterms. Got to win the midterms,” second-term president Trump said in his speech.”If we lose the midterms, you’ll lose so many of the things that we’re talking about, so many of the assets that we’re talking about, so many of the tax cuts that we’re talking about — and it would lead to very bad things.”But Trump’s economy-focused speech was largely overshadowed by events in the neighboring state of Minnesota, where two people have died this month in a deadly immigration crackdown.Trump told Fox News earlier he would “de-escalate a little bit” after federal agents shot 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the weekend, but he largely avoided talking about it in his speech.The White House says Trump will be making weekly trips across the country ahead of the midterms, in which voters have historically punished US presidents.Trump’s team has increasingly focused on the economy after polls showed mounting voter anger over the issue of affordability one year since the billionaire’s return to power.In his Iowa speech, the 79-year-old president repeated his claims about a “Golden Age” in the United States and insisted prices were falling for most goods.But he admitted that it may be hard to convince voters in November’s midterms, saying that in past elections “if something happens, the screw turns with the voters” no matter how good the president.- ‘Sickos’ -Trump has raged at what he calls unfair opinion polls, but numerous surveys have showed him with low approval ratings. A New York Times/Siena poll last week put the figure at 40 percent.With supporters cheering him along in Iowa, Trump, however, returned to a familiar theme of talking about running for a constitutionally barred third term as president. “Should we do it a fourth time?” he said, referring to his false claim to have won the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, along with winning in 2016 and 2024.Protesters disrupted Trump’s speech on at least two occasions, with the Republican dismissing them as “sickos” and “paid insurrectionists.”Trump, who was accompanied by US Treasury chief Scott Bessent, earlier visited a local diner and talked to patrons.Also accompanying Trump to Iowa was deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration policy, who described Pretti without evidence as a “would-be assassin.” The political row over immigration sees Trump in an unusually tight spot of one of his core campaign issues.While polls show most voters approve of his policy of mass deportations, many recent surveys show they are uncomfortable with the harsh tactics of Trump’s immigration agents.During his Iowa speech Trump veered off as he often does into talking about immigration, including renewed attacks on Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who is the first Somali-American elected to Congress.Meanwhile Trump faced a fresh blow on the economy too Tuesday as data showed US consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level since 2014.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would “de-escalate a little bit” in Minneapolis after the fatal shootings of two civilians fueled a storm of criticism over his signature immigration crackdown.Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan met with officials in the city as the Republican attempted damage control after the killing by immigration agents of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday.The president also admitted that Gregory Bovino, a hardline Border Patrol commander who is now expected to leave Minneapolis, was “a pretty out-there kind of a guy” whose presence may not have helped the situation.”We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” Trump told Fox News after days of tensions following the shooting of Pretti, while adding that it was not a “pullback.”Trump said that Homan — the top US border security official, who brings a less confrontational communication style — met with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Tuesday.The US president told reporters that he rejected the “assassin” label used by a top aide to describe protester Pretti. “I want a very honorable and honest investigation,” he said.Yet Trump did not hold back from criticizing Pretti for carrying a licensed firearm that was taken off him before he was shot.”I don’t like that he had a gun, I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines,” the president said.- ‘Pretty out there’ -Mayor Frey said in a statement after meeting Homan that he discussed the “serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis,” and that the city “will not enforce federal immigration laws.”Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Walz said he called for “impartial investigations” into shootings by federal agents in the city as well as a “significant reduction” in federal forces in the state.Pretti’s death has sparked outrage nationwide.Democratic former president Joe Biden on Tuesday said the situation “betrays our most basic values as Americans.” Ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have also spoken out.Pretti, shot multiple times after being knocked to the ground, was the second US citizen killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, turning the city into ground zero of national tensions over Trump’s mass deportation policies.Protester Renee Good, a mother of three, was shot by an agent at point blank range in her car on January 7.The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified, and heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents have grabbed people suspected of violating immigration laws off the streets.Despite multiple videos showing that Pretti posed no threat, top officials initially claimed he had been intending to kill federal agents.Trump backed his under-fire Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, who described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” saying she would not step down and was doing a “very good job.”But he was less supportive of Bovino, a Border Patrol official famed for reveling in aggressive, televised immigration crackdowns who had also played up the narrative that Pretti had posed a threat.”Bovino’s very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy. And in some cases, that’s good, maybe it wasn’t good here,” Trump told Fox.- ‘Sickened’ -Concern over the violence and the attempt to blame Pretti for his death quickly spread to Washington.Republican Senator Rand Paul said Tuesday that agents involved in the shooting should be put on administrative leave, later adding that the heads of ICE, Border Patrol and Citizenship and Immigration Services would testify before the Congress next month.Centrist Democratic Senator John Fetterman said “grossly incompetent” Noem should be fired.The turmoil could even result in a fresh US government shutdown, with Democrats threatening to block approval of routine spending bills up for votes in the Senate later this week.”The whole community is just sickened by all this,” said 68-year-old retiree Stephen McLaughlin in Minneapolis. “The aim of the government is to terrorize citizens, it’s really frightening.”burs-dk/sms

The leaders of the three core US immigration agencies will testify before the Senate’s powerful Homeland Security Committee in two weeks, it said Tuesday, as federal operations in Minneapolis and beyond face intense scrutiny after two fatal shootings.The February 12 hearing has been scheduled amid mounting criticism of a surge in enforcement actions ordered by President Donald Trump that have sparked deadly encounters between federal agents and civilians in the largest city of the northern state of Minnesota.Republican Rand Paul, the chairman of the Senate panel, posted on social media that the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had agreed to appear. Paul underscored what he described as Congress’s duty to examine the scope and use of the significant taxpayer funding devoted to immigration enforcement.In a sharply worded message to agency leadership, Paul stressed the importance of reviewing what he described as the “exceptional amount of funding” the Republican-led Congress has provided for border security and immigration enforcement.”Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight of those tax dollars and ensure the funding is used to accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement, and, most importantly, protect the American people,” he wrote.The letters were addressed to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, ICE acting Director Todd Lyons and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow.The announcement of the hearing came with the Midwestern city of Minneapolis becoming a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Earlier this month, federal agents shot and killed unarmed Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, as she attempted to drive away from an ICE enforcement operation, triggering protests and criticism from civil rights groups and local officials. On Saturday, another Minneapolis resident, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, also 37, was beaten and shot dead by CBP agents as he tried to help a woman that one of them had just shoved to the ground. Both killings have drawn international attention and condemnation over the government’s egregiously false accounts of what happened, intensifying public concern about the conduct and oversight of federal immigration operations.Paul questioned the decision by lawmakers to propose an additional $10 billion for ICE operations in 2026, noting that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by Trump last July, already earmarked more than $75 billion for ICE over the next four years.”In 2025, ICE received $10 billion in appropriations. The 2026 bill holds ICE at $10 billion — but last year Congress gave them $75 billion in advance funding,” Paul posted on X.”So even if ICE appropriations were eliminated, ICE would still have a 750% increase over last year.”

A judge in Los Angeles has reinstated a lawsuit against shock rocker Marilyn Manson under a new law enabling old sexual assault cases to be heard in court.The lawsuit, filed in May 2021 by a former assistant to the musician, had been dismissed in December because it exceeded the statute of limitations, a maximum time period for initiating legal proceedings after the related events took place. But plaintiff Ashley Walters asked the court to reconsider her case in January, when a new law mandated a two-year window for the consideration of sexual assault cases that had already expired under the statute. The lawsuit was accepted by the same Los Angeles Superior Court judge who had dismissed it the month before. “I looked at this closely,” Judge Steve Cochran said at a hearing on Monday, according to media reports. “I do think the statute revives the claim.” Walters alleges that the rocker sexually assaulted her when she worked for his Manson Records between 2010-2011.She also claims that Manson, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, boasted about raping women and even showed her a video in which he was abusing a minor girl.Manson’s lawyer Howard King said the lawsuit would fail.”While Ms. Walters made several now-irrelevant claims about so-called workplace harassment, she has no pending claims for sexual assault as defined in the penal code, as would be required under the new law, nor is she permitted under the ruling to add new claims,” King said in a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday.”The undeniable fact is that Mr. Warner never committed any sexual assault,” he added.Several women have accused Manson, 57, of sexual abuse and assault over the years, including actresses Esme Bianco (“Game of Thrones”) and his former partner Evan Rachel Wood.One of those cases, alleging sexual assault and domestic violence, was dismissed in January 2025, again because it fell outside of the statute of limitations.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that people “can’t walk in with guns” at protests after a second American was killed by federal authorities in Minnesota, aligning himself with an administration stance that has already drawn backlash from gun rights advocates.The comments came after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who was legally carrying a handgun when he was wrestled to the ground, disarmed and killed by border agents during a protest in Minneapolis on Saturday. Pretti’s death has left Trump navigating a treacherous political terrain, caught between defending aggressive federal law enforcement tactics and risking a rupture with a gun lobby that has long been one of his most dependable allies.”You can’t have guns, you can’t walk in with guns, you can’t do that, but it’s a very unfortunate incident,” Trump told reporters when asked about Pretti’s death, which came days after an immigration agent killed unarmed activist Renee Good as she was attempting to drive away.The Republican leader’s stance has put him at odds with influential conservative gun groups, which argue that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry firearms while exercising other constitutional rights, including peaceful assembly.Gun rights advocates reacted angrily after senior officials appeared to suggest that Pretti’s lawful possession of a gun justified the agents’ actions. The National Rifle Association said such claims were “dangerous and wrong,” urging public figures to await the outcome of an investigation rather than “demonizing law-abiding citizens.” Gun Owners of America said Americans do not surrender their right to bear arms when they protest.Trump’s remarks also exposed tensions within his own political coalition. The president softened the administration’s tone compared with some aides, rejecting the “assassin” label used baselessly by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to describe Pretti.But he did not retreat from the broader argument that armed protesters create an inherent threat to law enforcement. That position has drawn criticism from libertarian-leaning Republicans, including Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who said that “carrying a firearm is not a death sentence.”And the debate risks reviving accusations of hypocrisy from Trump’s critics. The congressional panel investigating the 2021 riot at the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters heard testimony from a senior White House aide that Trump knew some supporters at his rally were armed but demanded security checks be removed to allow them closer — before urging the crowd to march on Congress.The contrast has sharpened Democratic attacks and unsettled parts of Trump’s base, particularly after the administration previously defended armed conservatives such as Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after killing two people with his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at a 2020 protest.

US President Donald Trump headed to Iowa Tuesday eager to show voters he cares about affordability — but his trip was overshadowed by anger over the deadly immigration crackdown in the neighboring state of Minnesota.Trump’s visit to the Republican-leaning state — famed as one of the first stops for primary campaigns in US presidential elections — is part of what the White House says will be weekly trips across the country.”I’m going to Iowa and what can I say — the economy’s good, it’s all good, prices are coming way down and we have a lot of positive news,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House.His spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump would be visiting a local business before giving a speech on “affordability and on the economy.””And I know he very much looks forward to being there, to meeting with the great people of Iowa, but also lawmakers as well,” Leavitt said Monday.White House officials said the speech would also touch on energy, prices of which Trump says are falling.But the 79-year-old president’s attempts to talk up the economy risk being obscured by fallout over the killing of a second protester in Minneapolis this month.Most of the questions Trump faced as he headed for his helicopter concerned the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by a federal agent just over three hours drive away from the venue of his Iowa speech.Accompanying Trump to Iowa was was deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration policy, who described Pretti without evidence as a “would-be assassin.” – ‘Very sad’ -But Trump has sought to pivot amid the growing backlash, taking a more conciliatory tone, reaching out to the Democratic governor of Minnesota and mayor of Minneapolis, and sending his border czar to the city.He called the shooting a “very sad situation” on Tuesday and refused to back Miller’s “assassin” description — while insisting that under-fire Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem would not step down.The political row over immigration, one of Trump’s core campaign issues, adds to the woes of a president already suffering in the polls on other subjects.The economy is a particular trouble spot for the billionaire property developer.Trump has promised Americans a new “golden age” fueled by tariffs on other countries, but until late last year he dismissed growing voter concerns over what he called the affordability “hoax.”He faced a fresh blow Tuesday as data showed US consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level since 2014.In recent weeks, however, the White House has moved to tackle what was rapidly becoming a weak spot for Republicans ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections.Trump will start making weekly pre-midterm trips to sell his agenda around the country while cabinet members will also increase domestic travel, his chief of staff Susie Wiles said last week.Yet many of Trump’s campaign-style speeches have rapidly veered into diatribes about subjects like immigration, and he faces accusations from Democrats of being out of touch on the economy.

President Donald Trump’s “border czar” arrived in Minneapolis on Tuesday as the US president struggled with damage control after the fatal shootings of two civilians fueled a storm of criticism over his signature immigration crackdown.Some federal agents — including Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander famed for reveling in aggressive, televised immigration crackdowns — were expected to leave Minneapolis.Trump said that Tom Homan — the top US border security official, who brings a less confrontational communication style — was meeting with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Tuesday”I hear things are going very nicely,” Trump said.The US president told reporters that he rejected the “assassin” label used by a top aide to describe 37-year-old protester Alex Pretti, who was shot at point-blank range over the weekend.But Trump also said people could not go to protests with guns — a reference to Pretti carrying a licensed firearm that was taken off him before he was shot. He also said that Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem would remain in her job despite the growing backlash over the shooting.- Betrayal of ‘basic values’ -Pretti’s death has sparked outrage nationwide, even among some of Trump’s usually ultra-loyal Republican allies in Congress.Former Democratic president Joe Biden on Tuesday said the situation “betrays our most basic values as Americans.” Former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have also spoken out.Pretti, shot multiple times after being knocked to the ground, was the second US citizen killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, turning the city into ground zero of national tensions over Trump’s mass deportation policies.Protester Renee Good, a mother of three, was shot by an agent at point blank range in her car on January 7.The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified, and heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents have grabbed people suspected of violating immigration laws off the streets.The roving units are the spearhead for Trump’s vow to deport hundreds of thousands of people who are in the country illegally. But while the policy was initially popular, the chaotic and violent implementation is causing uproar.Despite multiple videos clearly showing that Pretti posed no threat, top officials initially claimed he had been intending to kill federal agents and described him as a “domestic terrorist.” Trump himself amplified the conspiracy theory on social media before retreating with a more conciliatory message.Concern over the violence and the attempt to blame Pretti for his death quickly spread to Washington.Republican Senator Rand Paul said Tuesday that agents involved in the Pretti shooting should be put “immediately” on administrative leave. Centrist Democratic Senator John Fetterman — who rarely criticizes Trump — said “grossly incompetent” Noem should be fired.- Protestors feel vindicated -The turmoil could even result in suspension of wide swaths of US government funding with Democrats threatening to block approval of routine spending bills up for votes in the Senate later this week.At a demonstration in Minneapolis on Monday, locals expressed relief that ICE was expected to scale back.”It’s a vindication to some degree. We have a lot of fear around what kind of violence and reprisals might come as they leave,” protester Kyle Wagner told AFP.”Our neighborhoods and communities have been brutalized by them, so any decrease in the numbers and the severity is just a huge relief to the community that’s been suffering for months now.”Jasmine Nelson, who was also at the demonstration, said she was inspired by locals coming together to protest the killings.”It’s really beautiful to see everyone get together like this and fight against these injustices,” she said.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem would remain in her job, despite a backlash over a fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.”No,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if Noem would step down after 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti was killed while protesting against immigration raids.”I think she’s doing a very good job,” added Trump, in his first on-camera comments since the shooting on Saturday.The New York Times reported that Trump held an almost two-hour meeting Monday evening with Noem, who has favored aggressive immigration raids and described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.”The Republican president has also dispatched his border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, in a sign he may favor Homan’s more targeted approach to the arrests of undocumented migrants over Noem’s showy mass raids.Trump, who was heading to Iowa to give a speech on the economy and affordability, continued his pivot from the White House’s aggressive initial reaction to the shooting.”I love his family and it’s a very sad situation,” Trump said.”We’re doing a big investigation… I’m going to be watching over it and I want to very honorable and honest investigation and I have to see it myself.”Trump also further distanced himself from the comments by Noem, and by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who called Pretti an “assassin” who wanted to murder federal agents.The Trump administration says Pretti had a firearm with him, but video footage showed he was not holding it at any point in the confrontation, and that an agent had removed it before Pretti was shot.”No,” Trump replied, when asked if he agreed with Miller’s comments.”That being said, you can’t have guns, you can’t walk in with guns, you can’t do that.” Trump’s comments look set to further inflame a debate about gun rights in the United States sparked by Pretti’s death.His administration and law enforcement agencies under him have justified the fatal shooting on the grounds that Pretti had a handgun and accused him of acting violently when he became entangled with agents.Some gun rights advocates — often staunch supporters of the president — have raised concerns over the Trump administration’s comments about Pretti.The Second Amendment to the US Constitution stipulates that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” For decades, it has been the subject of intense controversy.