Former President Barack Obama spoke out in an interview on Saturday about the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement shootings in Minnesota that took the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and addressed the state of the country. Obama sat down with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen for a wide-ranging interview, providing detailed remarks on what he called the "unprecedented nature" of the ICE deployment of over 2,000 agents in an operation dubbed "Operation Metro Surge" to Minnesota without any clear guidelines and training."The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous," Obama said, pointing to agents pulling people out of their homes, using young children to try to bait their parents and tear-gassing crowds simply for standing there, not breaking any laws.In a statement to CBS News, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, "ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals is simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens." Border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota is concluding, with a drawdown of federal immigration officers. Homan said the decision was made after reviewing two major factors: the multitude of "public safety threat" arrests the operation has yielded, and a steep drop in the need for federal officers to call in quick response force teams due to "agitators."Obama said Americans pushed back on the operation because, "This is not the America we believe in," and the community organized by buying groceries for folks, accompanying children to school and having peaceful protests.He added that the sustained behavior in subzero weather by ordinary people is what should "give us hope." The former president said the way to restore norms, rules of law and decency is for people to pay attention and say "enough," and that citizens have ideas of what an American family should look like.
In response to a question about President Trump posting a racist meme of the former president and his wife last week, Obama said he's been traveling around the country and met many people who still believe in decency, courtesy and kindness. He also said he doesn't believe the American people approve of this type of discourse, just as they didn't approve of what they saw in Minnesota.Ultimately, Obama said, "The answer is going to come from the American people."The White House did not respond to CBS News's question about Obama's reaction to the video posted by Mr. Trump.
Emma Nicholson and
Nikole Killion
contributed to this report.
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