Even Stephen Miller Is Jumping On Cbp For The Killing Of Alex Pretti

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is distancing himself from the Department of Homeland Security amid widespread outrage over the killing of Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Miller, an architect of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration enforcement campaign, said Tuesday that his initial remarks, which included labeling Pretti as a “terrorist,” were based on information from DHS. He also said the agency may not have been following White House instructions with its overall handling of the enforcement operation in Minnesota.

In a statement, Miller said that the White House told DHS to use the extra personnel sent to the state from Customs and Border Protection to keep protesters away from fugitive apprehension operations — suggesting the confrontation that led to Pretti’s death violated those instructions.

“We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” he said.

The statement, reported earlier by Axios and CNN, was a notable reversal and reflects efforts by different administration officials to deflect responsibility for an incident that has quickly spiraled into a disaster for the White House on one of its signature issues.

Amid fierce criticism, even from some Republicans, Trump has sought to tamp down the controversy by dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to take charge of the immigration campaign there.

The administration also removed Greg Bovino, the commander at large for the Border Patrol who had become the public face of the aggressive campaign in Minneapolis and other cities.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting on Saturday, Miller and other administration officials sought to portray Pretti, a U.S. citizen, as attacking law enforcement — a claim refuted by videos verified by media outlets which appeared to show the 37-year-old nurse holding a cell phone when he was wrestled to the ground by agents and shot while he was restrained.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters following the shooting that Pretti was brandishing a weapon and said he was engaging in “domestic terrorism.”

Miller said in the statement that “the initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground.”

His statement is the latest attempt by the White House to clean up their response to the shooting, which has stoked protests around the country.

Trump said in an interview earlier Tuesday the changes in Minneapolis indicate “we’re going to deescalate a little bit,” but downplayed a major overhaul in his administration’s aims for the operation.

“I don’t think it’s a pullback,” Trump told Fox News. “It’s a little bit of a change.”