White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a scathing rebuke of the mainstream media on Thursday, singling out CNN for what she described as misleading coverage of the recent unrest in Minneapolis.
During the press briefing, Leavitt took aim at a specific CNN headline that read, “Protests erupt after federal agent shoots man in Minneapolis.” She argued the phrasing stripped the incident of critical context, painting a federal agent as an aggressor rather than a victim of a violent ambush.
“That is not the story. That is not the truth,” Leavitt told reporters.
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She cited a Department of Homeland Security report detailing the encounter, which began when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to detain a Venezuelan national unlawfully present in the country. According to Leavitt, the operation turned violent when three other individuals rushed from a nearby house to “ambush and attack” the agent.
“They used a shovel or a broom to smash his face in,” Leavitt said, describing the chaotic scene that led the agent to discharge his weapon. “Yes, that agent had to use self-defense and take up his weapon to protect his own life.”
Leavitt linked the subsequent rioting—which has seen FBI vehicles rifled through and ICE property vandalized with graffiti reading “F*** ICE”—directly to the rhetoric of Democratic leadership. She specifically named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, accusing him and other officials of demeaning law enforcement with terms like “Nazis” and “Gestapo.”
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“People don’t do this without encouragement from people in power who make them feel like it’s okay,” Leavitt asserted, pointing to photos of vandalized vehicles. She characterized the media as “absolutely complicit” in the violence, arguing that headlines omitting the assault on the agent serve to inflame tensions rather than inform the public.
“I would encourage Governor Walz and other Democrats who are demeaning law enforcement to sit down and have a cup of coffee with an ICE agent,” she added. “These are great patriotic men and women… simply trying to enforce the law.”
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