Trump immigration officials shown video of Alex Pretti’s death in tense Senate hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The men tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda were made to watch a video of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in a slow, moment-by-moment analysis on Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul, who repeatedly cast doubt on the tactics used by federal officers and warned that the American public had lost trust in the country's immigration agencies.

It was a tense confrontation at a Senate hearing that was called to scrutinize the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of Trump's signature policy and after the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis over recent weeks at the hands of federal officers.

Paul, who paused the video every few seconds to explain his interpretation of the events, argued that Pretti posed no threat to the officers and questioned why the situation culminated in the ICU nurse's death.

“He is retreating at every moment,” said Paul, speaking of Pretti's behavior while officers pepper-sprayed him. “He’s trying to get away and he’s being sprayed in the face.”

The hearing's witnesses included Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, and Joseph Edlow, who runs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The same officials appeared in front of a House committee earlier this week.

Paul's comments were a strong rebuke of the conduct by CBP officers who ultimately shot and killed Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

“It’s clearly evident that the public trust has been lost. To restore trust in ICE and Border Patrol they must admit their mistakes, be honest and forthright with their rules of engagement and pledge to reform,” Paul said in his opening statements.

But Paul, who's often shown a willingness to buck party line, was the lone Republican voice questioning the immigration officers' conduct with others steering clear of any criticism. Democrats also weighed in with sharp condemnation of the shooting and, more broadly, on how officers from those agencies are using force when carrying out their responsibilities.

Scott disputed that Pretti wasn't a threat.

“What I’m seeing is a subject that’s also not complying. He’s not following any guidance. He’s fighting back nonstop,” said Scott.

Lyons disputed claims that his officers are not held accountable. He said in the year since Trump took office, ICE has opened 37 investigations for excessive force; 18 were closed, 19 are still pending and one was been referred for “further action,” he said.

The shooting death of Pretti, along with another American citizen, Renee Good, who were protesting immigration enforcement in Minnesota, sparked outrage and prompted changes to the Minnesota operation. On Thursday, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, announced that he was winding down the operation, which at one point included 3,000 ICE and CBP officers.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal pushed Lyons to explain a memo he wrote justifying the use of administration warrants — documents signed by an ICE officer and not an independent judge — to forcibly enter a home to make an arrest.

The Associated Press reported last month that ICE was asserting sweeping power through the use of administrative warrants in its enforcement operations.

Administrative warrants historically have not been sufficient to overcome Fourth Amendment protections that guard against illegal searches.

Lyons defended the practice, arguing that there is case law in Minnesota that allows officers to enter a home to catch a fugitive using only an administrative warrant.

Blumenthal, who compared the ICE's administrative warrants to a permission slip, said they aren’t enough to overcome constitutional protections.

Other Republicans directed their toughest questioning toward an earlier panel of Minnesota officials. When questioning Lyons and Scott, they focused not on the officers' tactics but on the threats they said ICE and CBP officers faced in carrying out their jobs.

Sen. Ron Johnson, from Wisconsin, asked Lyons to talk about the “violence, the threats, the doxing against ICE officers.”

“That’s where I’ve got a great deal of sympathy for people trying to enforce law,” he said.

From left, Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Rodney Scott, commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Todd Lyons, senior official performing the duties of the director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are sworn in before a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

Todd Lyons, senior official performing the duties of the director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

From left, Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Rodney Scott, commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Todd Lyons, senior official performing the duties of the director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, listen during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

NEW YORK (AP) — The top antitrust official in the Trump administration is leaving her post amid tension about greenlighting big mergers in recent months.

Gail Slater, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for antitrust, posted on X Thursday that it was with “great sadness” that she was leaving after just a year in the role. The move comes after back-and-forth decisions about whether to allow Hewlett Packard Enterprises to buy a rival in the telecommunications networking gear business last year.

The Justice Department initially sued to block HPE's $14 billion deal with Juniper Networks because the two would control 70% of the market in the industry, a dominance that “threatens higher prices and less innovation.”

But the suit was eventually settled, and the merger allowed to go through.

Slater's former top deputy has since gone public, warning that antitrust decisions are being made by people in the DOJ who are being influenced by corporate lobbyists and not looking out for the best interests of ordinary Americans.

“Today cases are being resolved based on political connections, not the legal merits,” said Roger Alford in a speech to the Aspen Institute in August shortly after joining Notre Dame Law School as professor.

Slater's role reviewing deals was recently thrown into the spotlight again when President Donald Trump announced he would personally examine Netflix's proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Trump later backed away from inserting himself into a process normally handled by Justice, promising not to get involved.

Slater, formerly a lawyer at Fox Corporation and Roku, worked as a policy adviser to vice presidential candidate JD Vance in the months before the election.

Her departure comes as the antitrust division is handling several antitrust actions against major companies, including Visa, Google and Live Nation Entertainment, an events company being sued on antitrust grounds for allegedly running an illegal monopoly with its ticket selling business Ticketmaster.

After the Slater post on X this morning, stock in Live Nation rose, closing up 2.5%.

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FILE - An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)