WATCH: 'I did not call him a domestic terrorist,' Noem claims about Alex Pretti

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that she did not call Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist, one of a number of times during a Senate oversight hearing she was confronted over her response to federal immigration agents' fatal shooting of U.S. citizens.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Noem whether she had anything to say to Pretti's parents, detailing how distraught they were by how their son, a VA nurse, was portrayed in the aftermath of his death.

"I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said it appeared to be an incident of domestic terrorism," Noem said. She called the situation "horrific" and said that she was relying on information she was getting from agents on the ground.

"I think the parents saw it for what it was," Klobuchar replied.

Noem’s agency has been roiled by turmoil and public outcry in recent days. The shooting of Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis prompted weeks of protests in the Twin Cities area.

Bystander videos challenged the administration’s narrative of the high-profile shooting deaths, and documented DHS deploying other aggressive tactics. Greater scrutiny by Democrats into the ways the Trump administration has been carrying out his mass deportation agenda led to a lapse in the agency’s funding and partial government shutdown.

Congressional lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to fund the department, though there are areas of bipartisan agreement, such as a body camera requirement for immigration enforcement agents.

Noem will also field questions Wednesday from the House Judiciary Committee.

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