Former President Barack Obama said in a Feb. 14 interview that the actions of some federal agents under the Trump administration are similar to behavior previously seen under dictatorships.
"The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous," Obama said in an interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen.
Obama added that American citizens should be appreciated for engaging in "peaceful protests and shining a light on the sort of behavior that, in the past, we've seen in authoritarian countries and we’ve seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America."
Obama's remarks come after White House border czar Tom Homan announced Feb. 12 that the Trump administration would be drawing down the surge of federal immigration agents it sent into Minnesota. Two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents in that state in incidents that sparked controversy and protest.
The former president characterized the actions of ICE agents in Minnesota in particular was "unprecedented."
Those agents were deployed into cities without clear guidelines and trainings, and once there, they pulled people out of homes, used children to bait their parents, and tear-gassed "crowds simply who were standing there, not breaking any laws," he said.
As protests have mounted in major cities in recent months in response to ICE actions, White House officials have defended their immigration record.
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