Former President Joe Biden issued a statement Monday condemning the recent violence in Minneapolis, saying actions by the federal government “betrays of our most basic values as Americans” and demanding justice for two U.S. citizens killed during ongoing immigration protests.
Biden’s comments come as tensions remain high in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti while he was being apprehended by federal officers on Saturday, nearly one mile away from where Renee Good was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement agent earlier this month.
Biden pointed to the deaths of Pretti and Good as evidence of what he called a Trump administration-led campaign of "violence and terror” against American citizens exercising their constitutional rights.
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Read his full statement:
What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a nation that tramples the 4th Amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized. The people of Minnesota have stood strong — helping community members in unimaginable circumstances, speaking out against injustice when they see it, and holding our government accountable to the people. Minnesotans have reminded us all what it is to be American, and they have suffered enough at the hands of this Administration. Violence and terror have no place in the United States of America, especially when it’s our own government targeting American citizens. No single person can destroy what America stands for and believes in, not even a President, if we — all of America — stand up and speak out. We know who we are. It's time to show the world. More importantly, it's time to show ourselves. Now, justice requires full, fair, and transparent investigations into the deaths of the two Americans who lost their lives in the city they called home. Jill and I are sending strength to the families and communities who love Alex Pretti and Renee Good as we all mourn their senseless deaths.
