I could even accept that in the commotion and heat of the Moment, it is perhaps understandable the agents fired because they were put in that position by a citizen they were struggling with.
However, what I cannot excuse was noem coming out and making a statement which basically said this guy came with a gun planning to kill as many agents as possible. Before you make a statement like that in an incident like this, you make damn sure of your facts. She did not.
The only out she could have on her statement is that she said it appeared to have happened that way, but that’s not even a good enough escape clause for what she announced to the nation.
If she had come out and said of course it will be thoroughly and carefully investigated and all such incidents are a tragedy, however this is the kind of thing that can happen for whatever reason when citizens start struggling with officers during the arrest of a criminal, that would have been fine.
Nothing Noem says or does would be enough for the haters. She said what she said, based on info she had at the time, which was 15 minutes after the incident. How is it any different than what the media does every frigging day when they report on “breaking news!” stories that turn out to be totally different than initial reports? They rarely admit fault after they spread misinformation far & wide. The double standard some of you hold toward her is ridiculous.
I agree and it wasn't just Noem that made such idiotic statements as "nobody carries a loaded gun and two magazines." Hell yes they do, and I'm one of them.
I will wait for an official report, but I've watched every angle of the Pretti shooting that is available publicly, and it looks to me that one officer standing behind Pretti drew his weapon when the word "gun" was yelled by the struggling officers. When he did so, his booger hook was on the bang switch. You can see it plainly on the video. And when amped up on adrenaline it doesn't take much to accidently squeeze too hard and have an ND. That's why it is always stressed so strongly to KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER.
Once a shot went off, the rest of the officers reacted with additional shots, 10 in all I believe. And all the while Petti's firearm had already been taken from the small of his back and was in an officer's control.