This afternoon DHS Secretary Kristi Noem  held a 10 minute press conference addressing the criticism surrounding the shooting death of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.  She and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino have been under fire for claiming Mr. Pretti was brandishing a semi-automatic pistol when bystander video clearly shows he was holding a cell phone, as well as for failure to follow normal crime scene security.

Secretary Noem assured the reporters that her department has possession of the weapon and it is in a secured location..  As proof she revealed a photograph of  it on a video board and identified it as a semiautomatic 9mm iPhone 15 Pro Max with a 20 round magazine.  Noam said going forward all cell phones will be considered an eminent threat to the lives of immigration officers as well as a security risk of revealing their heterodox operational tactics.  “An officer has no idea  if a phone is a regular phone or a 9mm iPhone,” she stated.  “From now on if you go around brandishing a cell phone, any phone, rest assured you will suffer the consequences, anywhere up to a couple dozen of them, possibly in the back while you are face down on the ground.”  Noam explained that the training of all immigration officers is intense and thorough and left the room displaying the department’s updated service motto on the video board: Assume the worst, fire first.

Semiautomatic 9mm iPhone 15 Pro Max with 20 round magazine