The Trump administration has indicated it could rein in its Minnesota immigration crackdown as public outrage intensifies after a federal agent killed a protester.
Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, whose agents pepper-sprayed and shot nurse Alex Pretti on the weekend, will leave Minnesota imminently along with some of his agents, according to US media reports.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said they were willing to work together after what Mr Walz called a "productive conversation", which Mr Trump said showed they were "on a similar wavelength".
Mr Trump also spoke to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and said they were making "lots of progress". Mr Frey said: "The president agreed the present situation can't continue."
Mr Trump's relatively conciliatory comments follow days of bitter public clashes with local leaders. They came as some Republicans joined a chorus of criticism after Mr Pretti was shot dead in the street, then accused by Trump officials of inciting violence, despite contradictory video evidence and witness accounts.
Chris Madel, a leading Republican candidate for Minnesota governor, cancelled his campaign and launched a scathing attack on the party for taking its immigration crackdown "far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats".
"I cannot support the national Republicans' stated retribution on the citizens of our state," Mr Madel said in an online video. "Nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
Snap polls suggest the shooting has further shifted public opinion against the divisive immigration operation, which has sparked protests nationally and attracted widespread criticism for heavy-handed tactics, racial profiling, detaining citizens by mistake and using children as "bait".
"I have spoken to countless United States citizens who have been detained in Minnesota due to the colour of their skin," Mr Madel said.
"I personally have spoken to several law enforcement officers, some Hispanic and some Asian, who have been pulled over by ICE [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement]".
A YouGov poll in the hours after the shooting found more Americans supported abolishing ICE (46 per cent) than opposed abolishing it (41 per cent).
Another YouGov poll, a day after the shooting, found about half of Americans said Mr Pretti's shooting was not justified, compared to 20 per cent who said it was.
Among Americans who had seen video of the shooting, almost two-thirds said it was unjustified.
Bovino to leave after 'massacre' claim
Mr Bovino was among Trump officials who accused Mr Pretti of inciting violence shortly after he was killed, and even said the ICU nurse planned to "massacre" federal agents.
On Monday, local time, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt urged reporters to wait for federal investigation findings before drawing conclusions.
She said Mr Trump retained confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who had claimed Mr Pretti was at the protest to "kill" and "inflict maximum damage".
She did not confirm that Mr Bovino would leave Minneapolis, but said he would continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol nationally.
CNN later reported that the White House and Mr Bovino reached a "mutual decision" for him to leave Minneapolis, and some border patrol agents would stay in the city, according to unnamed sources.
Ms Leavitt, at the first White House press briefing since the shooting, did not repeat the incendiary allegations made about Mr Pretti. She instead attempted to shift blame to local Democratic officials.
Asked if the president agreed with officials who had accused Mr Pretti of "domestic terrorism", Ms Leavitt said: "I have not heard the president characterise Mr Pretti in that way. However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself."
Ms Leavitt said border patrol agents would no longer be needed to support ICE in Minnesota if local authorities agreed to hand over "criminal illegal aliens" in custody and deploy local police to help federal agents.
Mr Walz, a Democrat, said local authorities were already enforcing immigration law.
"I spoke to the president earlier," he wrote on X. "We had a productive conversation and I explained to him that his staff doesn't have their facts straight about Minnesota."
Mr Trump said Mr Walz had "called me with the request to work together".
"It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength," Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said he would ask Tom Homan, the White House border czar who he has deployed to Minnesota, to call Mr Walz.
Republicans call for testimony as Democrats threaten shutdown
Republican senator Rand Paul, a consistent Trump critic, said he was calling on the heads of the agencies involved in the crackdown to testify before the Homeland Security Senate Committee, which he chairs.
Fellow Republican John Curtis said he was working with a bipartisan group, including Senator Rand, "to demand real oversight and transparency" by calling on the officials to testify.
"I disagree with Secretary Noem's premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence," Senator Curtis said.
Several Republican members of Congress have publicly called for independent investigations into the shooting.
In the House of Representatives, more than half of Democrats have signed a petition to impeach Ms Noem.
Democrats are also threatening to block a government funding bill that includes billions of dollars for ICE, which could lead to another US government shutdown at the end of the week.
A federal court is meanwhile considering whether to order a halt to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. State and city governments argue the Trump administration is using violence on the streets to illegally "coerce" Minnesota to change its policies.
"They got a bunch of people to intimidate us, shot three people, killed two of them," Minnesota Attorney-General Keith Ellison told reporters outside court. "But at the end of the day, this is coercion, federal overreach."
