President Trump is sending his Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy next month.
Italians are up in arms with the city’s mayor among those condemning their deployment.
Giuseppe Sala told RTL Radio 102 before the divisive agency’s deployment was confirmed: “This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips. It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”
Initial media reports over the weekend floating the possibility that ICE agents would be in Italy for the Games was met with confusion from government officials, who said the US had not told them about this.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Saturday he had not received confirmation of ICE arrivals, but added that “I don’t see what the problem would be”, the news agency ANSA reported.
Sending US federal agents to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics has proved controversial following the fatal shootings of two Americans during ICE’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
US diplomats are often supported by federal agencies while travelling abroad for the Olympics.
US Vice President JD Vance will head up a delegation attending the February 6 opening ceremony.
ICE Agents and the Olympic rings in Milan
|REUTERS
The White House confirmed Second Lady Usha Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also be in attendance.
In the past three weeks, federal officers in Minneapolis have shot and killed two protesters against deportations and immigration enforcement.
On Saturday morning, government agents killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse.
His family accused the ICE of the shooting, but it was actually carried out by officers from the Department for Homeland Security (DHS).
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Ice agents have been deployed to Minnesota to carry out the crackdown on illegal immigrants recently | GETTYThat evening, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claims Mr Pretti was in possession of a weapon, but footage taken of the killing appears to dispute her claims.
One agent was seen removing what appeared to be Mr Pretti’s legally-owned handgun from his waistband.
Earlier on, Mr Pretti could be seen holding a shiny object aloft during a confrontation with an officer, during which he was pepper-sprayed.
It is unclear what the object was, and he had been recoding with his phone in one hand before the confrontation.
The Winter Olympics is set to kick-off in early February
| GETTYMr Pretti was hailed by Veterans Affairs, whom he worked as a nurse for, as a good and caring man.
Their statement said: “Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.
“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.
“I do not through around the hero term lightly.
“However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.”