SNL jokes Donald Trump is going to hell 'after this week' as fury grows over latest Minneapolis shooting
Saturday Night Live suggested that President Donald Trump is destined for hell after another tumultuous week for his administration.
During the show's weekly satirical news round-up host Colin Jost said: 'Well, during a press conference celebrating his first year in office, President Trump said that God was very proud of the job he's doing as president.
'Trump added that God was probably looking up at us right now. Smiling from horn to hoof.
'Also, remember when President Trump straight-up told us he was going to hell?'
Jost cut to a clip of Trump aboard Air Force One telling journalists 'I think I'm not maybe heaven bound' to peals of laughter.
The SNL comic then deadpanned: 'But he thinks that after this week, God is back on board?'
Jost's gag appeared to be an allusion to the killing of nurse Alex Pretti by a Department of Homeland Security officer in Minneapolis Saturday.
Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update host Colin Jost joked that President Trump would be going to hell 'after this week' during a vicious segment
Jost pulled up the clip of the Trump in October where he joked himself he that he didn't belive he would make it to Heaven
The host went on to criticize the president's efforts to acquire Greenland as well as unveiling his controversial new 'board of peace' whose invitees include Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the in-studio audience in New York City laughed at jokes, only blocks away, a protest was being held for Pretti, where activists screamed and demanded the abolishment of ICE.
New York City Council member Chi Ossé called for the abolishment of ICE to a crowd of protestors: 'We need Nuremberg trials for the people of ICE, for the people who are committing crimes against humanity here in our country.'
'I refuse to call them law enforcement. They are agents of chaos. They are destroying the fabric of our country.'
The demonstration in the city is among the many that sparked after the 37-year-old nurse was killed in Minnesota after he 'approached US border patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,' said a DHS spokesperson.
Federal officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insist Pretti 'brandished' his legally-owned handgun at officers trying to detain an illegal migrant on Saturday morning.
But videos recorded by multiple bystanders cast serious doubts on those claims, and it now appears Pretti was unarmed when he was brutally gunned down.
The segement came the same day Alex Pretti, 37, who was an intensive care nurse who treated critically ill military veterans, was killed shortly after 9am on January 24, after an altercation involving multiple federal officers
Protestors have clashed with officials following the killing of Pretti
In addition to demonstrations within the Minneapolis, many have also sparked across the country in hubs such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Boston
The killing set off protests throughout Minneapolis. Large military-style vehicles surrounded demonstrators who blocked streets with dumpsters and restaurant furniture. Federal agents fired tear gas and pepper balls in response.
Protests have picked up in Minneapolis in recent weeks as federal agents from the DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue to occupy the city following the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an agent on January 7, and the non-fatal shooting of another man last week.
Pretti had also participated in protests following the January 7 killing of Good by an Immigration and Customs officer.
Minneapolis has faced rising tensions amid the federal enforcement presence and ongoing protests - a backdrop shaped by prior high‑profile police killings, including the death of George Floyd in 2020.
