Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) confronted Trump administration officials in charge of immigration enforcement during a Senate hearing on Thursday. Paul confronted them with a breakdown of the shooting video of Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti in an attempt to get at what led to the fatal shooting. “Today, we explore the rules of engagement, the rules for the proper use of force, and the rules for the use of force that are proportional to the threat,” Paul said. “My goal with this hearing is not to condemn or to argue to defund ICE; my goal is to restore public trust. If we don’t admit that there’s a problem, then we’re not going to get anywhere.” Paul played the video frame by frame and asked, “Is it an appropriate use of force to shove the woman to the ground here, Mr. Scott?” “I can’t answer that,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said, “because this video doesn’t show everything that led up to it, the encounters before. That investigation is ongoing.” “So, let’s say hypothetically two women were yelling at one of your officers. Is it okay to shove them to the ground?” Paul pressed. Both Scott and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd M. Lyons answered, “No, sir,” but didn’t answer definitively when asked if it looked like the officers attempted to de-escalate the situation. . @SenRandPaul & @SenGaryPeters break down video of Alex Pretti shooting video. Sen. @RandPaul : “It destroys the trust in ICE… I see nothing here, I mean not even a hint of something that was aggressive on his part.” pic.twitter.com/SckWt2X5wP — CSPAN (@cspan) February 12, 2026 “I think what’s important about the encounter isn’t even the specifics of the investigation. It’s about, what are your officers are trained to do,” Paul said. “So, there were people who said that, ‘Yes, the officers were using de-escalation tactics.’ Nobody believes that,” Paul said. “No one in America believes that shoving that woman’s face in the snow was de-escalation.” When Paul got to the officers’ interaction with Pretti, he said, “At no time in the encounter do you see him try to strike an officer, nor does he brandish a weapon, which was alleged as well.” “I don’t see any resistance, but it’s kinda hard to tell when you have six people on you and you’re moving,” Paul said. “I mean, the natural instinct when you have six people on top of you is to try to move — you’re not going to be placid. But, I see nothing here, I mean not even a hint of something that was aggressive on his part.” “And so, I don’t think this should take months and months and years and years — there needs to be a conclusion,” Paul said of the investigation into the officers’ conduct . “But we need to have answers here, and there needs to be an announcement, ‘These are the new policies, this is how we’re going to interact with the public.’” On CBS Mornings, Wednesday, Paul said he believed that Lyons owed an apology to the families of Pretti and Renee Good . Watch the clip above via YouTube. The post Rand Paul Plays Alex Pretti Killing During Senate Hearing: ‘Not Even a Hint’ of Aggression ‘On His Part’ first appeared on Mediaite .