gun rights groups have decried some administration rhetoric and called for a full investigation<\/a> into the circumstances surrounding Pretti\u2019s death. <\/p>\nMinneapolis Police Chief Brian O\u2019Hara on Sunday almost begged for calm for his city that has witnessed hundreds of ICE agents moving in. O\u2019Hara told CBS News \u201cthis is not sustainable,\u201d and that his officers were stretched thin trying to contain \u201call of this chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has to stop,\u201d the Obamas wrote. <\/p>\n
\u201cFederal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job,\u201d the Obamas wrote. \u201cBut Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what we\u2019re seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we\u2019re seeing the opposite,\u201d the former first couple wrote. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, protests grew as people watched cellphone video captured by bystanders of Pretti\u2019s shooting. <\/p>\n
Pretti\u2019s parents, Susan and Michael Pretti, in a statement reported by the Associated Press, described their son as \u201ca kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
His shooting comes less than three weeks after an ICE agent shot an unarmed mother, Renee Nicole Good, in another Minneapolis neighborhood. The agency said she was attempting to harm an ICE agent although video of the incident appears to show her turning the wheel of her SUV away from the agent when he shot her in the face.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,\u201d the Obamas wrote, describing such methods as \u201cunprecedented tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren\u2019t informed by any serious investigation \u2014 and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence,\u201d the Obamas wrote.<\/p>\n
They called on Trump administration officials to \u201creconsider their approach\u201d and work constructively with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other state and local authorities \u201cto avert more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country,\u201d the Obamas wrote. \u201cThey are a timely reminder that ultimately it\u2019s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n