2 hours ago
1
Joe Biden has joined other former Democratic presidents in condemning the fatal shooting of the 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, saying that it “betrays our most basic values as Americans”.
In a statement that alluded to the constitutional right to due process, Biden said: “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 fourth amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized.”
He continued: “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.”
In a barely veiled reference to Donald Trump, who is facing a mounting backlash over his administration’s federal immigration enforcement tactics, Biden said: “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.”
Biden called for “full, fair and transparent” investigations into the “senseless” killings of Pretti on Saturday and Renee Good earlier this month. Good was shot dead as she drove away from a federal immigration agent, which – like Pretti’s killing – sparked widespread protest and scrutiny.
Biden’s latest statement joins condemnation from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Obama – for whom Biden was vice-president – and Clinton urged Americans to speak out and warned that core American values were under assault amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
Since leaving office Biden has largely kept a low public profile. He is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer and focusing on his memoir and presidential library. His return to the national dialogue with his statement was therefore notable.
His remarks come as many Democrats remain frustrated by his decision to hold on to the party’s presidential nomination late into the 2024 election cycle, a move critics say weakened the party’s momentum. He eventually ceded the nomination to Vice-President Kamala Harris, whom Trump defeated for a second term in the White House.
Biden, meanwhile, has been the target of near-daily verbal attacks from Trump, who continues to blame him for a wide range of issues, including federal immigration policy.
