CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Department of Homeland Security General Counsel Chad Mizelle (YouTube Screenshot)
Chad Mizelle – who served as Department of Justice chief of staff under Attorney General Pam Bondi – got into a contentious back-and-forth with CNN host Jake Tapper after seemingly asserting that Minneapolis shooting victim and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti brought what critics are calling “an execution-style death” upon himself at the hands of federal agents.
“Alex Pretti was not following the law, Jake,” Mizelle insisted.
“What law did he break?” Tapper asked.
“He interfered with an ongoing law enforcement investigation. That is a felony."
“By doing what?” Tapper demanded. “By filming it?”
“While [ICE agents] were waiting for backup and trying to clear out the street … there were individuals who were interfering with that, resisting the lawful command of a law enforcement officer is a crime,” said Mizelle. “And then whenever you resist arrest, that's an additional crime. And if you have a gun with you while you're committing an act of violence, in this case, potentially against a law enforcement officer, Jake, that's a crime. So, there's a series of that.”
To this, Tapper pointed out that there was footage on the scene indicating none of these claims.
“Chad, you know, there's video of this, right? I mean, you're accusing Alex Pretti of committing violence. You know we can see what happened, right? I mean, you're aware that there's video of this? And we saw that the officers … I saw 5 or 6 officers wrestling him to the ground while he was holding up his [phone].”
“Why does it take 5 or 6 people to wrestle a single individual? Only if that individual is resisting arrest, Jake. You just proved my point,” Mizelle insisted.
“No, I don't think I did,” Tapper snapped. “Five or 6 officers jumping on somebody who obviously was immediately on the ground and one hand was on the ground and one hand was holding his camera, is not evidence that six people needed to be doing that. That's like saying ‘he deserved to be shot.' Otherwise, why would the officers have shot him? You really don't think that there's any question about whether or not this man deserved to be shot? You really think that this is this was fine. This was a fine act because I don't even think there are people in the Trump administration who are arguing that.”
“I don’t think this was a fine act … I think it was unfortunate,” Mizelle said, before attempting to blame events leading up to the shooting on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s announcement that he wanted ICE agents out of his state before more bloodshed.
To this, Tapper drew a comparison to the President Donald Trump inciting violence on January 6th, and he reminded Mizelle that he refuses to hold Trump accountable for that violence.
“Explain that to me, because it just doesn't make any sense. Why is Tim Walz inciting these activities, but President Trump was not?” He said.
“Jake, I don't even understand the distinction or the analogy you're trying to draw,” Mizelle answered.
“Well, the analogy is that it seems to be that people in the Trump administration, and I guess that includes you,” Tapper said. “… think that there's one set of rules for Trump supporters and another set of rules for people who are not Trump supporters. … [P]eople who assault law enforcement on January 6th, that's fine. They should be given pardons. But people who assault law enforcement — and I don't think Alex Pretti qualifies — that's not allowed. People who are MAGA supporters and carry guns with them to protests: That's fine. But Alex Pretti should not have had a gun on him even though he was a concealed weapon holder. And it's just like it doesn't make any sense to most Americans, because it's really just supposed to be one set of laws and one set of rules.”
- YouTube youtu.be
