WATCH LIVE: White House briefing may address fatal shooting of ICU nurse in Minnesota

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer has sparked an intense national debate and prompted some fellow Republicans to question President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown, but the president continued Sunday night to blame Democratic officials.

White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt is expected to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. EST. Watch the live stream in our video player above.

After remaining relatively quiet on Sunday, the Republican president said in two lengthy social media posts that Democrats had encouraged people to obstruct law enforcement operations. He also called on officials in Minnesota to work with immigration officials and “extradition” people who are in the United States illegally.

“It is tragic that two American citizens lost their lives as a result of the chaos that followed this Democrat,” Trump wrote on his social media network, Truth.

Trump’s refusal to back away from his pledge to implement the largest deportation program in history and increase the number of immigration officers to heavily Democratic cities came as more Republicans began calling for a deeper investigation and expressing discomfort with some of the administration’s tactics.

Read more: Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Peretti in Minneapolis

Trump also told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Sunday that his administration is “reviewing everything,” but declined to say whether the officer who shot 37-year-old Alex Peretti acted appropriately.

“We are researching and reviewing everything and we will come up with a determination,” Trump said.

The White House did not answer questions about whether Trump watched videos of the Minnesota shooting, which appeared to contradict the account of what happened by members of his administration, or whether he planned to speak to Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who pleaded with the president to help bring calm to the city.

Instead, Trump said Sunday night that he would call on Congress to pass legislation banning so-called sanctuary cities. His administration has sought to apply this designation to communities based on their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, among other factors.

His push for action by lawmakers comes even as outrage over the shootings has raised the possibility of a partial government shutdown within a week due to a standoff over additional funding for immigration enforcement.

Read more: A judge will hear arguments on Trump’s anti-immigration campaign in Minnesota after the deadly shooting

Trump’s initial reaction to Prete’s shooting came hours after it happened on Saturday. In a post on his Truth Social network, he questioned why Pretty had a firearm and accused Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of inciting “insurrection with their arrogant, dangerous, arrogant rhetoric.”

But throughout the weekend, Trump, who rarely leaves an important moment without comment, did not make any public appearances or express any displeasure over Prete’s death.

Instead, he posted online a complaint about Canada and efforts to block him from building an expanded White House ballroom, calling the lawsuit to block its construction “devastating for the White House, our country, and everyone involved.”

Read more: Dozens of Minnesota state CEOs issued a joint letter urging a de-escalation in the state following the shooting

He also posted messages praising British forces after his comments about them earlier in the week were widely interpreted as a serious insult and praise for guests who appeared on Fox News.

When he commented again Sunday night as criticism mounted, Trump did not bow down.

Walz and Frey, also a Democrat, called for anyone in the country illegally detained in state or local prisons, along with anyone with a warrant or criminal history, to be extradited.

In his comments to the Wall Street Journal, Trump criticized Pretty for carrying a gun.

Read more: The funding deal begins to unravel as Senate Democrats pledge to oppose the Department of Homeland Security bill over the shooting of Alex Peretti in Minnesota

“I don’t like shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump said. “But I don’t like for someone to go to a demonstration and have a very powerful handgun, fully loaded, and two magazines full of bullets, too. That’s not good either.”

He said immigration enforcement officers would leave Minneapolis “at some point” but did not provide a time frame.

Meanwhile, members of his administration were quick to say that the shooting, the second killing of a US citizen in Minneapolis by immigration officers in recent weeks, was a case of a gunman inciting violence.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said in a social media post, without providing any evidence, that Peretti was a “murderer” who “tried to kill federal agents.”

Vice President J.D. Vance shared Miller’s post. He issued other letters blaming local officials and describing what was happening in Minneapolis as “orchestrated chaos” that was “the direct result of far-left agitators working with local authorities.”