John Mitnick, who served as general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during President Donald Trump’s first term, is calling on Congress to impeach and remove Trump following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.
“I am enraged and embarrassed by DHS’s lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty,” Mitnick wrote in a post on X. “Impeach and remove Trump—now.”
Newsweek said it contacted the White House by email outside normal working hours for comment, and also reached out to Draganfly Inc., the company where Mitnick serves as chairman, for comment on his behalf.
Why It Matters
Mitnick’s public call for impeachment—coming from a former senior DHS attorney who served under Trump—highlights how criticism of the administration’s immigration operations in Minnesota is expanding beyond typical partisan lines.
The shooting and the backlash around it are also unfolding as Democrats in Washington have threatened to block DHS funding ahead of a looming deadline, raising the political stakes around the Minneapolis operation.
What We Know
Mitnick said he had been involved in DHS’s early formation and later held senior roles tied to homeland security legal work, including serving as DHS general counsel. In his X post, he wrote:
“I helped to establish DHS in 2002 and 2003 and later had the homeland security portfolio as a White House Counsel and served as General Counsel of the Department. I am enraged and embarrassed by DHS’s lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty. Impeach and remove Trump—now.”
Mitnick served as DHS general counsel from February 2018 to September 2019. He also worked on homeland security legal matters during the George W. Bush administration, and he endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 alongside other former Republican officials.
His comments were posted in response to an X statement by attorney George Conway, a frequent Trump critic, who described the killing as “a straight-up execution of a protester by Trump’s federal brownshirts.”
Conway argued the federal response in Minneapolis was not about immigration enforcement or public safety, writing: “It’s about destroying any sense of that safety—to intimidate political opponents, and to punish dissent.”
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, died after a U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire during a DHS immigration operation on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. DHS said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said officials believed Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. However, bystander videos circulating online did not clearly show a weapon in his hand at the moment shots were fired.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti arrived to “impede a law enforcement operation” and questioned why he was armed, without specifying whether he brandished a weapon. Federal officials said the agent involved is an eight-year veteran.
Trump defended the operation on Truth Social, accused Minnesota leaders of obstructing law enforcement, and urged Americans to “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!”
What People Are Saying
Conway wrote on X that impeachment is the constitutional check designed for situations like this, concluding: “Congress needs to do its job.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud. The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X: “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
What Happens Next
Minnesota officials said the state intends to lead the investigation, but disputes over jurisdiction with federal agencies remain unresolved. Additional protests are expected.
