'Not our America.' Washington state leaders condemn federal shootings in Minnesota

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown held a press conference Monday to emphatically condemn the killing of two civilians by federal agents this month in Minneapolis.

Ferguson and Brown hinted at their preparations should the Trump administration crack down similarly in Washington state.

“We will not allow this administration to turn our nation into an authoritarian regime,” Ferguson said. “That is not our America.”

The press conference was light on details. Both Ferguson and Brown said minutes before, they signed a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying that an internal memo reportedly giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers the direction to enter homes without judicial warrants violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

“ICE cannot authorize itself to break into somebody's home,” Brown said. “In our letter, we emphasize that if ICE attempts any such unconstitutional measures in Washington state, we will use every legal option available to us to hold the federal government accountable.”

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Ferguson said he met with the state’s top National Guard leader, Major General Gent Welsh, yesterday to discuss Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s deployment of that state’s National Guard and “chat through different scenarios.”

“I will not go into detail about that conversation for reasons I hope you understand, but I want the people of our state to know that I'll take whatever steps are necessary to keep our residents safe,” Ferguson said.

When he was attorney general, Ferguson sued Trump 99 times during the president’s first term. Brown, in the last year as Ferguson's successor, has already sued the federal government 50 times.

“People have asked what we can do if ICE descends on Washington state, as they have in Minnesota,” Brown said. “And I will not speculate on our strategy. I'm not going to hand our playbook to them, but I can tell you that my staff, working closely with Governor Ferguson, has monitored the situation in Minnesota and Minneapolis very, very closely.”

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Viral videos of Alex Pretti’s killing Saturday have struck even some elected Republicans, such as Congressman Michael Baumgartner of Spokane, as “disturbing.”

“It’s critically important that the American people and Congress be given a better understanding of how immigration enforcement is being handled,” Baumgartner wrote on X Saturday, “including the methods federal law enforcement officers are using to prioritize, identify and arrest suspected targets, the training they are receiving, the implementation of body cameras, the threats they face in conducting operations and the challenges posed by sanctuary cities and states.”

Baumgartner applauded the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee for calling a full committee hearing on the shooting.

Other Republicans, such as Rep. Jim Walsh, a state legislator from Aberdeen and chairman of the Washington State GOP, doubled down.

“‘ICE agents’ are enforcing the law,” Walsh wrote on X. “The Left is turning up the deceitful rhetoric.”