Dave McCormick calls for ‘full investigation’ into fatal Minneapolis shooting while Fetterman stays quiet

Sen. Dave McCormick (R, Pa.) has called for a “full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis” after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 37-year-old man there Saturday morning.

“We all the need the facts,” McCormick said in a post on X Sunday, adding that, “We must enforce our laws in a way that protects the public while maintaining its trust. This gives our law enforcement officers the best chance to succeed in their difficult mission.”

The Republican senator’s comments came a day after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital, amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother, on Jan. 7, provoking protests nationwide.

McCormick qualified this statement, however, by maintaining his support for federal immigration enforcement and accusing Minnesota politicians of exacerbating tensions.

Sen. John Fetterman (D, Pa.) has yet to weigh in on Pretti’s death.

McCormick is one of several Republicans who have voiced concern over violent incidents involving immigration enforcement, without denouncing ICE or Border Patrol. Giving them cover to speak out, the National Rifle Association, the country’s top gun lobby which has deep ties to the GOP, has called for an investigation.

The NRA spoke out after it came to light that Pretti was legally carrying a gun that he had a permit for. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Pretti was “brandishing” his weapon at federal agents, though in video released by bystanders it appears that was not the case.

“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” the group said in response to a post on X from the First assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California who said “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!”

McCormick said in his statement Sunday that he agreed with the NRA’s statement, which preceded his own, and “others” in calling for the investigation of Pretti’s killing.

It’s the second comment in two days from McCormick on a highly controversial issue orchestrated by the Trump administration. On Saturday, McCormick said he disagreed with the National Park Service’s decision to dismantle exhibits about slavery at the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park.

Fetterman has yet to say whether he plans to join other Democrats in blocking a Department of Homeland Security funding bill unless restrictions on immigration enforcement operations are put in place.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democrat did not immediately return a request for comment.

However, Gisele Fetterman, the senator’s wife who was formerly living undocumented in the U.S. for more than a decade after emigrating from Brazil, commented on Pretti’s death before her husband.

“Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body - a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,” she said in a post on X Sunday evening. “What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound. This now-daily violence is not ‘law and order.’ It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love, and build their lives here. It’s devastatingly cruel and unAmerican.”

The senator’s silence on this issue thus far comes in contrast to his colleagues in the region.

For instance, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D, Del.) said in a statement that ICE and federal agents’ actions are “shameful and disturbing.” She called for an end to ICE’s presence in Minnesota, a full investigation into Pretti’s death, and said that she would not be voting for DHS funding.

“I refuse to support this current package of funding bills as federal agents shoot Americans in the street,” she said.