Days after a man was shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, a Republican candidate for governor called the event “tragic,” and blamed Democratic leadership for the crackdown there.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, also said he hasn’t watched the videos of federal agents shooting ICU nurse Alex Pretti, but he called for an investigation into Pretti’s death.
“Let’s get all the facts on the table and make sure to make a reasoned decision in what was a very chaotic time,” he said.
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Tiffany said the blame lies at the feet of Democratic leaders, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts.
“This goes to what Gov. Walz has done here, where he’s refused to engage with the federal government,” Tiffany said. “He will not let federal agents be able to do their job in Minneapolis and in Minnesota. So I would just hope that Gov. Walz would work with the federal government for a change in regards to this.”
Tiffany pledged to work with federal authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, if elected. That’s in contrast to several Democratic candidates who have called for ICE to be disbanded.
“Well, how do you remove somebody that’s a foreign national in your state who has committed a crime, as has happened here in Wisconsin? How do you remove them without allowing federal law enforcement to be able to do their job?” he said.
Tiffany also said he hadn’t seen comments from Trump administration officials saying Pretti had attempted to “massacre” immigration agents, a claim that is contradicted by videos and eyewitness accounts.
Tiffany said that Pretti, whose death sparked protests across Wisconsin on Sunday, had been caught up in the chaos of protests. And he said that people should be allowed to carry concealed firearms, as Pretti had been, if the law allows it.
“Yes, you should be able to conceal carry. But, I mean, you should also think about when you’re going to go into a situation like that,” Tiffany said. “I mean, be sure to think about the ramifications of that.”
Tiffany is not the only GOP lawmaker to blame Democrats for the deadly violence in Minneapolis. U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, said on social media that Walz is engaging in a coverup of his state’s prominent fraud scandal.
By contrast, Democratic candidates for governor have all denounced immigration officers’ presence in Minnesota. On social media, Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, called for ICE to be abolished, and Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, called for officers who killed Pretti and, two weeks ago, Renee Good, to be prosecuted.
In a statement, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker said Tiffany’s comments show he’s unfit to be governor.
“Tom Tiffany claiming that he hasn’t seen the video of Alex Pretti’s execution is a pathetic excuse from a pathetic man,” Remiker said. “Tom Tiffany is, at best, a clueless coward and at worst a liar.”
Remarks come at press conference for plan to lower property taxes
Tiffany’s comments occurred at a press conference in Madison his campaign assembled to promote his plan to lower property taxes. He said to do that, he would repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ so-called “400-year veto” on his first day in office.
That’s a reference to a way Evers used his partial veto pen when finalizing the state budget in 2023, which increased local school revenue limits for four centuries.
“He didn’t ask the Legislature, he didn’t ask the voters and he certainly did not ask the homeowners who are footing the bill” Tiffany said of Evers.
Tiffany said, if elected, he would immediately order a special session of the Legislature to overturn the veto.
In recent weeks, Evers and legislative Republicans have traded blame for steep property tax bills, which are the highest they’ve been since 2018, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. Evers has called on the Legislature to release $1.3 billion for some relief measures, while Republicans said any negotiation has to include discussing the veto.
Over the weekend, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told WISN-TV he’d consider using the state surplus to carve out some amount of property tax relief, in exchange for a compromise with Evers.
On Monday, Tiffany praised Vos, but said that relief is a “Band-Aid.”
“I believe that we should give people tax relief whenever we can, and I applaud Speaker Vos and the Legislature for trying to keep the spending under control here over the last seven years,” he said.
“But the big difference between what I’m proposing and what Gov. Evers is doing — he’s talking about doing something temporary,” Tiffany said. “This is for just one year. What I’m talking about here is, let’s end this permanent 400-year property tax increase.”
Evers has said that property taxes were going up well before his veto, in part because many communities have voted to raise their own taxes through referendums to fund schools. He says the real solution is increased state funding for education.
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