Senate panel hears from top immigration officials, state leaders on Minnesota surge

Paul and Peters began the second panel by showing video of the build-up to the shooting of Alex Pretti, who was filming federal agents before he was tackled to the ground and shot to death.

“The authorization of the use of deadly force is so concerning… that society only authorizes the use of this force on rare occasions. Today we are exploring the rules of engagement – the rules for appropriate use of force and the rules for the use of force that are proportional to the threat,” Paul said before launching into questions, adding that his goal is to “restore public trust.”

“Is yelling at ICE or Border Patrol agents a form of domestic assault against the agents?” Paul asked witnesses, playing video of the initial confrontation.

“No, sir,” the heads of CBP and ICE responded. Paul then established that filming officers is not a crime.

The video then showed officers approaching two women and pushing one to the ground.

“Is it an appropriate use of force to push the woman to the ground here, Mr. Scott?” » asked Paul. The CBP chief said he could not respond without more information about what led to the confrontation and said an investigation was underway. But he admitted it would not be appropriate to push a woman to the ground just for shouting at police officers.

Paul said it was important to determine whether agents were following DHS policy in how they acted.

“There were people saying, and they were part of the government, I don’t think it was any of you, but part of DHS and part of the administration said, ‘Yes, the officers were using de-escalation tactics.’ Nobody believes that, okay? I’m just going to stipulate it,” Paul said. “No one in America believes that pushing this woman’s head and face into the snow was de-escalation.”