President Trump sends Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota

(NBC, KYMA) - President Donald Trump said Monday he would send Border Czar Tom Homan to the Minnesota, following Saturday's shooting of a 37-year-old nurse, Alex Pretti, by immigration agents during a confrontation with protesters in Minneapolis.

Homeland Security officials have characterized the shooting as an attack, and say agents fired in self-defense after Pretti approached with a handgun, but video from the scene contradicted the administration's version of events.

Footage showed Pretti was holding a phone, not a gun, in his hand as agents wrestled him to the ground, and they then removed a gun that was stored near Pretti's waistband before fatally shooting him.

Pretti was a licensed gun owner.

It was not clear whether President Trump's decision to dispatch Homan to the state amounts to an escalation of the administration's presence or a climbdown.

Unlike other top immigration officials, Homan has not publicly spoken about the Pretti shooting, while other administration officials have characterized the former nurse as a "domestic terrorist."

In a statement posted to social media, Trump said Homan "has not been involved" in the Minnesota crackdown "but knows and likes many of the people there."

The crackdown has spurred massive street protests in below-freezing temperatures, and fierce condemnations by the state's Democratic leaders.