Noem: Minneapolis shooting ‘did not have to happen’

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the federal agent who shot dead an armed Minneapolis protester who she said violently brandished a gun while attempting to interfere in the “targeted” arrest of a criminal migrant — and blamed the state’s Democratic leaders for the shooting.

Noem said a Border Patrol agent, in fear of his life, rattled off “defensive” shots at 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti after he approached federal immigration officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun as tensions flared in South Minneapolis Saturday morning.