#alexjeffreypretti — Public Fediverse posts

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

January 31, 2026

• News, Business Sports, Politics, Opinion, Entertainment, Calendar, Raiders, Podcasts, Las Vegas Weekly, Subscribe

EDITORIAL:

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America

Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 | 2 a.m.

View more of the Sun’s opinion section

• Editorials – the Sun’s viewpoint
• Columnists – local and syndicated writers
• Letters to the editor – readers’ views
• Write a letter to the editor

The killing of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street over the weekend should end any remaining illusions about where Donald Trump’s second-term presidency is headed. This was not an isolated tragedy, not a “confusing situation,” not the regrettable outcome of a tense encounter. The killings of Renee Nicole Good and Pretti in Minneapolis are an inflection point — the moment when the authoritarian impulses Trump has long telegraphed crossed fully from rhetoric into bloodshed.

Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who cared for veterans at the VA, and a concealed-carry license holder. He was standing in the street, exercising his constitutional rights to speak and assemble freely as part of a peaceful protest. He attempted to help a female protester get to her feet after she was thrown to the ground by federal agents.Within seconds, he was shot dead from behind, killed by his own government even though he posed no threat and was defenseless at the time.

Almost immediately, Trump administration officials rushed to the microphones to smear Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin.” But video evidence and even Customs and Border Protection’s own preliminary review reveal the lie being spread by Trump’s minions to manipulate the American people, distort the truth and consolidate power in Trump.

This pattern should be chillingly familiar. During his first campaign, Trump demonstrated that he was willing to violate the law and lie repeatedly to manipulate the public about his business acumen, his wealth and his relationships with everyone from Russian oligarchs to an adult film star.

Now, in his second term, the message is unmistakable: Laws, court orders, constitutional rights and even the lives of the American people, are expendable if they interfere with his pursuit of power and impunity.

Pretti’s killing did not happen in a vacuum. In January alone, at least eight people have died in encounters with federal immigration officials or while in ICE custody. In several of those cases, eyewitness accounts and recordings directly contradict the official narratives issued by the administration. At least two of the dead were U.S. citizens who asked only to exercise their constitutional rights to move, assemble and speak freely; to lawfully carry a firearm; and, if accused of wrongdoing, to receive due process.

Instead, they were met with what can only be described as summary executions by a federal force that increasingly resembles a private army loyal to Trump alone.

Moreover, the Trump administration has shown an alarming comfort with lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of Americans at the hands of ICE.

Consider the facts in Pretti’s case. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed he “approached officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” neglecting to mention that the weapon was holstered and he never reached for it. The government’s own preliminary review concedes there was no brandishing — only a refusal to move while filming agents, followed by an attempt to help a woman up, then being swarmed by federal agents and then gunfire. In fact, it was federal agents who removed Pretti’s gun from its holster prior to shooting the unarmed and incapacitated man multiple times in the back, ending his life.

The same script played out earlier this month with the killing of Good, a Minneapolis mother of three shot in her car by a federal agent. Her last words to the man who killed her as she tried to drive away from the scene: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Hardly the sentiments of a terrorist.

She, too, was instantly labeled a “violent rioter” and “domestic terrorist.” Trump himself claimed she ran over an officer. Video evidence shows that she had the wheels of her car turned away from the federal agent who shot her, undermining the administration’s certainty and raising profound questions about the use of lethal force.

And then there is the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban immigrant who died in ICE custody in El Paso, Texas. ICE claimed suicide. A witness described a chokehold. An autopsy found injuries consistent with a chokehold and potentially with homicide. Once again, the official story collapses under scrutiny.

Trump administration officials have suggested that because Pretti carried a holstered weapon and filmed agents, that his killing was “legally justified.” By this standard, law enforcement should have opened fire on the thousands of Jan. 6 attackers who killed and maimed Capitol police, or Kyle Rittenhouse, or the armed militiamen who invaded the Michigan statehouse, or the armed demonstrators intimidating voters in Arizona.

For those who voted for Trump, take note. The danger that was once reserved for immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ Americans is now at your doorstep. This is not Barack Obama or Joe Biden ordering masked federal agents into the streets without training. It is not a Democratic administration asserting that it is “legally justified” for the federal government to shoot anyone who lawfully carries a gun near a protest. It is Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which controls every branch of the federal government.

Nor should we forget that as Trump proclaims support for the protesters in Iran and says the state shouldn’t kill them, his administration is killing protesters in the U.S. because they oppose his policies.

Worse still, as conservative commentator Joe Rogan pointed out last week, it appears that one of Trump’s primary motivations for sending ICE into the streets is simply to distract from an even larger national scandal: the Epstein files.

Despite a federal law mandating the release of the files by Dec. 19, Trump’s Justice Department has released only about 1% of the files thus far. At its current pace, the department won’t release all the files until 2030.

Last week, Rogan implied that ICE’s massive ongoing operations are designed to distract from Trump’s potential involvement in a child-sex trafficking ring. It’s an immigration crackdown weaponized to divert attention from one of the few scandals that could stand in the way of Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.

We don’t know if Rogan is correct or not, because like everyone else, we haven’t seen the files. What we do know is that regardless of the motivation, Trump and his minions are trashing the Constitution and killing American citizens with no cause or legitimate justification.

Authoritarianism does not arrive all at once. It advances in steps, each normalized by fear, propaganda and the vilification of the dead. The killings in Minneapolis mark the moment when the line was crossed, when the erosion of rights turned unmistakably lethal. If Americans do not recognize them as such, the next inflection point may come even closer to home.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

January 31, 2026

• News, Business Sports, Politics, Opinion, Entertainment, Calendar, Raiders, Podcasts, Las Vegas Weekly, Subscribe

EDITORIAL:

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America

Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 | 2 a.m.

View more of the Sun’s opinion section

• Editorials – the Sun’s viewpoint
• Columnists – local and syndicated writers
• Letters to the editor – readers’ views
• Write a letter to the editor

The killing of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street over the weekend should end any remaining illusions about where Donald Trump’s second-term presidency is headed. This was not an isolated tragedy, not a “confusing situation,” not the regrettable outcome of a tense encounter. The killings of Renee Nicole Good and Pretti in Minneapolis are an inflection point — the moment when the authoritarian impulses Trump has long telegraphed crossed fully from rhetoric into bloodshed.

Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who cared for veterans at the VA, and a concealed-carry license holder. He was standing in the street, exercising his constitutional rights to speak and assemble freely as part of a peaceful protest. He attempted to help a female protester get to her feet after she was thrown to the ground by federal agents.Within seconds, he was shot dead from behind, killed by his own government even though he posed no threat and was defenseless at the time.

Almost immediately, Trump administration officials rushed to the microphones to smear Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin.” But video evidence and even Customs and Border Protection’s own preliminary review reveal the lie being spread by Trump’s minions to manipulate the American people, distort the truth and consolidate power in Trump.

This pattern should be chillingly familiar. During his first campaign, Trump demonstrated that he was willing to violate the law and lie repeatedly to manipulate the public about his business acumen, his wealth and his relationships with everyone from Russian oligarchs to an adult film star.

Now, in his second term, the message is unmistakable: Laws, court orders, constitutional rights and even the lives of the American people, are expendable if they interfere with his pursuit of power and impunity.

Pretti’s killing did not happen in a vacuum. In January alone, at least eight people have died in encounters with federal immigration officials or while in ICE custody. In several of those cases, eyewitness accounts and recordings directly contradict the official narratives issued by the administration. At least two of the dead were U.S. citizens who asked only to exercise their constitutional rights to move, assemble and speak freely; to lawfully carry a firearm; and, if accused of wrongdoing, to receive due process.

Instead, they were met with what can only be described as summary executions by a federal force that increasingly resembles a private army loyal to Trump alone.

Moreover, the Trump administration has shown an alarming comfort with lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of Americans at the hands of ICE.

Consider the facts in Pretti’s case. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed he “approached officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” neglecting to mention that the weapon was holstered and he never reached for it. The government’s own preliminary review concedes there was no brandishing — only a refusal to move while filming agents, followed by an attempt to help a woman up, then being swarmed by federal agents and then gunfire. In fact, it was federal agents who removed Pretti’s gun from its holster prior to shooting the unarmed and incapacitated man multiple times in the back, ending his life.

The same script played out earlier this month with the killing of Good, a Minneapolis mother of three shot in her car by a federal agent. Her last words to the man who killed her as she tried to drive away from the scene: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Hardly the sentiments of a terrorist.

She, too, was instantly labeled a “violent rioter” and “domestic terrorist.” Trump himself claimed she ran over an officer. Video evidence shows that she had the wheels of her car turned away from the federal agent who shot her, undermining the administration’s certainty and raising profound questions about the use of lethal force.

And then there is the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban immigrant who died in ICE custody in El Paso, Texas. ICE claimed suicide. A witness described a chokehold. An autopsy found injuries consistent with a chokehold and potentially with homicide. Once again, the official story collapses under scrutiny.

Trump administration officials have suggested that because Pretti carried a holstered weapon and filmed agents, that his killing was “legally justified.” By this standard, law enforcement should have opened fire on the thousands of Jan. 6 attackers who killed and maimed Capitol police, or Kyle Rittenhouse, or the armed militiamen who invaded the Michigan statehouse, or the armed demonstrators intimidating voters in Arizona.

For those who voted for Trump, take note. The danger that was once reserved for immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ Americans is now at your doorstep. This is not Barack Obama or Joe Biden ordering masked federal agents into the streets without training. It is not a Democratic administration asserting that it is “legally justified” for the federal government to shoot anyone who lawfully carries a gun near a protest. It is Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which controls every branch of the federal government.

Nor should we forget that as Trump proclaims support for the protesters in Iran and says the state shouldn’t kill them, his administration is killing protesters in the U.S. because they oppose his policies.

Worse still, as conservative commentator Joe Rogan pointed out last week, it appears that one of Trump’s primary motivations for sending ICE into the streets is simply to distract from an even larger national scandal: the Epstein files.

Despite a federal law mandating the release of the files by Dec. 19, Trump’s Justice Department has released only about 1% of the files thus far. At its current pace, the department won’t release all the files until 2030.

Last week, Rogan implied that ICE’s massive ongoing operations are designed to distract from Trump’s potential involvement in a child-sex trafficking ring. It’s an immigration crackdown weaponized to divert attention from one of the few scandals that could stand in the way of Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.

We don’t know if Rogan is correct or not, because like everyone else, we haven’t seen the files. What we do know is that regardless of the motivation, Trump and his minions are trashing the Constitution and killing American citizens with no cause or legitimate justification.

Authoritarianism does not arrive all at once. It advances in steps, each normalized by fear, propaganda and the vilification of the dead. The killings in Minneapolis mark the moment when the line was crossed, when the erosion of rights turned unmistakably lethal. If Americans do not recognize them as such, the next inflection point may come even closer to home.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

January 31, 2026

• News, Business Sports, Politics, Opinion, Entertainment, Calendar, Raiders, Podcasts, Las Vegas Weekly, Subscribe

EDITORIAL:

ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America

Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 | 2 a.m.

View more of the Sun’s opinion section

• Editorials – the Sun’s viewpoint
• Columnists – local and syndicated writers
• Letters to the editor – readers’ views
• Write a letter to the editor

The killing of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street over the weekend should end any remaining illusions about where Donald Trump’s second-term presidency is headed. This was not an isolated tragedy, not a “confusing situation,” not the regrettable outcome of a tense encounter. The killings of Renee Nicole Good and Pretti in Minneapolis are an inflection point — the moment when the authoritarian impulses Trump has long telegraphed crossed fully from rhetoric into bloodshed.

Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who cared for veterans at the VA, and a concealed-carry license holder. He was standing in the street, exercising his constitutional rights to speak and assemble freely as part of a peaceful protest. He attempted to help a female protester get to her feet after she was thrown to the ground by federal agents.Within seconds, he was shot dead from behind, killed by his own government even though he posed no threat and was defenseless at the time.

Almost immediately, Trump administration officials rushed to the microphones to smear Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin.” But video evidence and even Customs and Border Protection’s own preliminary review reveal the lie being spread by Trump’s minions to manipulate the American people, distort the truth and consolidate power in Trump.

This pattern should be chillingly familiar. During his first campaign, Trump demonstrated that he was willing to violate the law and lie repeatedly to manipulate the public about his business acumen, his wealth and his relationships with everyone from Russian oligarchs to an adult film star.

Now, in his second term, the message is unmistakable: Laws, court orders, constitutional rights and even the lives of the American people, are expendable if they interfere with his pursuit of power and impunity.

Pretti’s killing did not happen in a vacuum. In January alone, at least eight people have died in encounters with federal immigration officials or while in ICE custody. In several of those cases, eyewitness accounts and recordings directly contradict the official narratives issued by the administration. At least two of the dead were U.S. citizens who asked only to exercise their constitutional rights to move, assemble and speak freely; to lawfully carry a firearm; and, if accused of wrongdoing, to receive due process.

Instead, they were met with what can only be described as summary executions by a federal force that increasingly resembles a private army loyal to Trump alone.

Moreover, the Trump administration has shown an alarming comfort with lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of Americans at the hands of ICE.

Consider the facts in Pretti’s case. The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed he “approached officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” neglecting to mention that the weapon was holstered and he never reached for it. The government’s own preliminary review concedes there was no brandishing — only a refusal to move while filming agents, followed by an attempt to help a woman up, then being swarmed by federal agents and then gunfire. In fact, it was federal agents who removed Pretti’s gun from its holster prior to shooting the unarmed and incapacitated man multiple times in the back, ending his life.

The same script played out earlier this month with the killing of Good, a Minneapolis mother of three shot in her car by a federal agent. Her last words to the man who killed her as she tried to drive away from the scene: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Hardly the sentiments of a terrorist.

She, too, was instantly labeled a “violent rioter” and “domestic terrorist.” Trump himself claimed she ran over an officer. Video evidence shows that she had the wheels of her car turned away from the federal agent who shot her, undermining the administration’s certainty and raising profound questions about the use of lethal force.

And then there is the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban immigrant who died in ICE custody in El Paso, Texas. ICE claimed suicide. A witness described a chokehold. An autopsy found injuries consistent with a chokehold and potentially with homicide. Once again, the official story collapses under scrutiny.

Trump administration officials have suggested that because Pretti carried a holstered weapon and filmed agents, that his killing was “legally justified.” By this standard, law enforcement should have opened fire on the thousands of Jan. 6 attackers who killed and maimed Capitol police, or Kyle Rittenhouse, or the armed militiamen who invaded the Michigan statehouse, or the armed demonstrators intimidating voters in Arizona.

For those who voted for Trump, take note. The danger that was once reserved for immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ Americans is now at your doorstep. This is not Barack Obama or Joe Biden ordering masked federal agents into the streets without training. It is not a Democratic administration asserting that it is “legally justified” for the federal government to shoot anyone who lawfully carries a gun near a protest. It is Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which controls every branch of the federal government.

Nor should we forget that as Trump proclaims support for the protesters in Iran and says the state shouldn’t kill them, his administration is killing protesters in the U.S. because they oppose his policies.

Worse still, as conservative commentator Joe Rogan pointed out last week, it appears that one of Trump’s primary motivations for sending ICE into the streets is simply to distract from an even larger national scandal: the Epstein files.

Despite a federal law mandating the release of the files by Dec. 19, Trump’s Justice Department has released only about 1% of the files thus far. At its current pace, the department won’t release all the files until 2030.

Last week, Rogan implied that ICE’s massive ongoing operations are designed to distract from Trump’s potential involvement in a child-sex trafficking ring. It’s an immigration crackdown weaponized to divert attention from one of the few scandals that could stand in the way of Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.

We don’t know if Rogan is correct or not, because like everyone else, we haven’t seen the files. What we do know is that regardless of the motivation, Trump and his minions are trashing the Constitution and killing American citizens with no cause or legitimate justification.

Authoritarianism does not arrive all at once. It advances in steps, each normalized by fear, propaganda and the vilification of the dead. The killings in Minneapolis mark the moment when the line was crossed, when the erosion of rights turned unmistakably lethal. If Americans do not recognize them as such, the next inflection point may come even closer to home.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: ICE killing in Minneapolis marks a dangerous new chapter for America – Las Vegas Sun News

>Melania Trump’s Documentary BRIBE Is a Giant Flop<

#PodSaveAmerica

#PoliticalCommunication

#AOC

#Defunding #Healthcare for investing it in the killing #Paramilitary #ICE

#AlexJeffreyPretti
#ReneeNicoleGood

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nB7DrEG13NI&si=PkowMgiUyrLkzJAM

>Trump's Year From Hell | The #CoffeeKlatch with Robert Reich<

#HeatherLofthouse

#PoliticalCommunication
#Authoritarianism

#Minneapolis

#GeorgeFloyd killed by a police officer

#ReneeNicoleGood
#AlexJeffreyPretti

Both killed by the paramilitary #ICE

#RebuildDemocracy

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rqGh4JoasIY&si=s54fs9Cpegpkroak

Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting – AP News

Insurrection Act, DOJ subpoenas Walz, What to know, Who pays for ICE?, Politics

Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting

By  STEVEN SLOAN Updated 5:04 PM PST, January 25, 2026, Leer en español

227

WASHINGTON (AP) — A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”

A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.

Trump administration officials were quick to cast Pretti as the instigator. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was among those who said Pretti “approached” immigration officers with a gun and acted violently. Videos from the scene show Pretti being pushed by an officer and then a half-dozen agents descend on him. During the scuffle, he is holding a phone but is never seen brandishing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun police say he was licensed to carry.

Related Stories

Democrats vow to oppose homeland security funds after Minnesota shooting as shutdown risk grows

Moderate Sen. Jacky Rosen urges Noem’s impeachment as Dem fury grows over Minneapolis shooting

Sen. Thom Tillis takes on the White House, but not Trump

The killing has raised uncomfortable questions about the GOP’s core positions on issues ranging from gun ownership to states’ rights and trust in the federal government.

Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said on social media that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.”

He pushed for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”

Murkowski called for an investigation and added that “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.” Collins, the only incumbent Republican senator facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024, said a probe is needed “to determine whether or not excessive force was used in a situation that may have been able to be diffused without violence.”

While calling for protesters to “keep space” from law enforcement and not interfere, Collins said federal law enforcement must “recognize both the public’s right to protest and the highly charged situation they now face.”

Even Sen. Pete Ricketts, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called for a “prioritized, transparent investigation.”

“My support for funding ICE remains the same,” the Nebraska Republican, who is up for reelection, said online. “But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble.”

Trump and other administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. Many Republicans either echoed that sentiment or stayed silent.

In a lengthy social media post on Sunday evening, Trump called on Minnesota’s Democratic leadership to “formally cooperate” with his administration and pressed Congress to ban so-called sanctuary cities.

The White House will likely face at least some GOP pushback

Trump has enjoyed nearly complete loyalty from fellow Republicans during his first year back in the White House. But the positions staked out in the wake of the shooting signal the administration will face at least some pushback within the party in its swift effort to define Pretti, who protested Trump’s immigration crackdown, as a violent demonstrator.

Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller issued social media posts referencing an “assassin” and “domestic terrorist” while Noem said Pretti showed up to “impede a law enforcement operation.”

At a minimum, some Republicans are calling for a de-escalation in Minneapolis.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the shooting was a “real tragedy” and Trump needs to define an “end game.”

“Nobody likes the feds coming to their states,” Stitt said. “And so what is the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non-U.S. citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want.”

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said the shooting was “not acceptable.”

“At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training and leadership,” he said in a post. “At worst, it’s deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens.”

Echoing criticism that local law enforcement isn’t cooperating with federal officials, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., suggested the administration focus its immigration efforts elsewhere.

https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-immigration-republicans-trump-pretti-988f694e4e1187033551fd23afde4c02

Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting – AP News

Insurrection Act, DOJ subpoenas Walz, What to know, Who pays for ICE?, Politics

Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting

By  STEVEN SLOAN Updated 5:04 PM PST, January 25, 2026, Leer en español

227

WASHINGTON (AP) — A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”

A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.

Trump administration officials were quick to cast Pretti as the instigator. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was among those who said Pretti “approached” immigration officers with a gun and acted violently. Videos from the scene show Pretti being pushed by an officer and then a half-dozen agents descend on him. During the scuffle, he is holding a phone but is never seen brandishing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun police say he was licensed to carry.

Related Stories

Democrats vow to oppose homeland security funds after Minnesota shooting as shutdown risk grows

Moderate Sen. Jacky Rosen urges Noem’s impeachment as Dem fury grows over Minneapolis shooting

Sen. Thom Tillis takes on the White House, but not Trump

The killing has raised uncomfortable questions about the GOP’s core positions on issues ranging from gun ownership to states’ rights and trust in the federal government.

Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said on social media that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.”

He pushed for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”

Murkowski called for an investigation and added that “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.” Collins, the only incumbent Republican senator facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024, said a probe is needed “to determine whether or not excessive force was used in a situation that may have been able to be diffused without violence.”

While calling for protesters to “keep space” from law enforcement and not interfere, Collins said federal law enforcement must “recognize both the public’s right to protest and the highly charged situation they now face.”

Even Sen. Pete Ricketts, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called for a “prioritized, transparent investigation.”

“My support for funding ICE remains the same,” the Nebraska Republican, who is up for reelection, said online. “But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble.”

Trump and other administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. Many Republicans either echoed that sentiment or stayed silent.

In a lengthy social media post on Sunday evening, Trump called on Minnesota’s Democratic leadership to “formally cooperate” with his administration and pressed Congress to ban so-called sanctuary cities.

The White House will likely face at least some GOP pushback

Trump has enjoyed nearly complete loyalty from fellow Republicans during his first year back in the White House. But the positions staked out in the wake of the shooting signal the administration will face at least some pushback within the party in its swift effort to define Pretti, who protested Trump’s immigration crackdown, as a violent demonstrator.

Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller issued social media posts referencing an “assassin” and “domestic terrorist” while Noem said Pretti showed up to “impede a law enforcement operation.”

At a minimum, some Republicans are calling for a de-escalation in Minneapolis.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the shooting was a “real tragedy” and Trump needs to define an “end game.”

“Nobody likes the feds coming to their states,” Stitt said. “And so what is the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non-U.S. citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want.”

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said the shooting was “not acceptable.”

“At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training and leadership,” he said in a post. “At worst, it’s deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens.”

Echoing criticism that local law enforcement isn’t cooperating with federal officials, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., suggested the administration focus its immigration efforts elsewhere.

https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-immigration-republicans-trump-pretti-988f694e4e1187033551fd23afde4c02

The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti – CNN Politics

Politics 5 min read

The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti

By Daniel Dale, Updated 47 min ago

Top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have responded to the killing of Alex Pretti by the Border Patrol in Minneapolis on Saturday with a torrent of claims that are either contradicted by video footage or unsupported by any evidence presented so far.

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti “attacked” officers, an assertion echoed by FBI Director Kash Patel, but no footage available as of Sunday afternoon shows Pretti committing any attack.
• Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun, but no available footage shows Pretti even holding a weapon in his hand at the scene; a concealed gun appeared to be taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot.
• White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” Vice President JD Vance reposted this claim, and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino (and the Department of Homeland Security in a social media post) said it “looks like” Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” But nobody has shown any evidence that Pretti sought to kill anyone, let alone perpetrate a massacre.
• Patel suggested that Pretti broke the law by carrying a concealed gun at a protest, but the Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry the gun and was allowed to have it on him as he was protesting in a public place.

Pretti’s parents issued a statement on Saturday saying, “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.” And in television interviews on Sunday, the administration declined to repeat some of its most incendiary allegations from Saturday about Pretti, who was a registered nurse in an intensive care unit at a Veterans Affairs facility.

Here is a look at how the Trump team’s shifting rhetoric squares with what is known about Pretti and the circumstances around his death.

The administration claimed that Pretti ‘attacked’ officers. But videos don’t show Pretti committing any attack

Noem told reporters Saturday: “This individual impeded the law enforcement officers and attacked them,” repeating the phrase “attacked them” moments later for emphasis. When Patel was asked about the shooting in a Sunday interview on Fox News, he responded, “You do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions.”

No video of the incident available as of Sunday afternoon showed Pretti attacking officers.

Various footage shows him directing traffic at the site of an immigration enforcement operation, yelling at a federal agent who was interacting with other bystanders to “not push them into the traffic,” holding up a cell phone appearing to record agents, and stepping in front of an agent to intervene as the agent shoved a woman to the ground; Pretti appeared to make momentary contact with the agent with his right arm and left hand.

The agent then sprayed him with a chemical irritant and dragged him to the ground; other officers joined in the confrontation as Pretti appeared to resist, and one agent appeared to strike him repeatedly as he was on the ground.

In a Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Bovino claimed Pretti “assaulted federal officers.” But when Bash pressed Bovino to explain what moment in the video showed Pretti committing such an assault, Bovino would not provide any specifics.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti | CNN Politics

The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti – CNN Politics

Politics 5 min read

The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti

By Daniel Dale, Updated 47 min ago

Top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have responded to the killing of Alex Pretti by the Border Patrol in Minneapolis on Saturday with a torrent of claims that are either contradicted by video footage or unsupported by any evidence presented so far.

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti “attacked” officers, an assertion echoed by FBI Director Kash Patel, but no footage available as of Sunday afternoon shows Pretti committing any attack.
• Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun, but no available footage shows Pretti even holding a weapon in his hand at the scene; a concealed gun appeared to be taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot.
• White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” Vice President JD Vance reposted this claim, and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino (and the Department of Homeland Security in a social media post) said it “looks like” Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” But nobody has shown any evidence that Pretti sought to kill anyone, let alone perpetrate a massacre.
• Patel suggested that Pretti broke the law by carrying a concealed gun at a protest, but the Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry the gun and was allowed to have it on him as he was protesting in a public place.

Pretti’s parents issued a statement on Saturday saying, “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.” And in television interviews on Sunday, the administration declined to repeat some of its most incendiary allegations from Saturday about Pretti, who was a registered nurse in an intensive care unit at a Veterans Affairs facility.

Here is a look at how the Trump team’s shifting rhetoric squares with what is known about Pretti and the circumstances around his death.

The administration claimed that Pretti ‘attacked’ officers. But videos don’t show Pretti committing any attack

Noem told reporters Saturday: “This individual impeded the law enforcement officers and attacked them,” repeating the phrase “attacked them” moments later for emphasis. When Patel was asked about the shooting in a Sunday interview on Fox News, he responded, “You do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions.”

No video of the incident available as of Sunday afternoon showed Pretti attacking officers.

Various footage shows him directing traffic at the site of an immigration enforcement operation, yelling at a federal agent who was interacting with other bystanders to “not push them into the traffic,” holding up a cell phone appearing to record agents, and stepping in front of an agent to intervene as the agent shoved a woman to the ground; Pretti appeared to make momentary contact with the agent with his right arm and left hand.

The agent then sprayed him with a chemical irritant and dragged him to the ground; other officers joined in the confrontation as Pretti appeared to resist, and one agent appeared to strike him repeatedly as he was on the ground.

In a Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Bovino claimed Pretti “assaulted federal officers.” But when Bash pressed Bovino to explain what moment in the video showed Pretti committing such an assault, Bovino would not provide any specifics.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: The Trump administration’s false claims and shifting rhetoric about the killing of Alex Pretti | CNN Politics

Ola de indignación en EE. UU.: protestas contra el ICE se extienden tras muerte de manifestante | vía #UChileRadio

https://radio.uchile.cl/2026/01/25/ola-de-indignacion-en-ee-uu-protestas-contra-el-ice-se-extienden-tras-muerte-de-manifestante/

#alexjeffreypretti #crisismigratoria #derechosciviles #ice #minneapolis #protestasenestadosunidos

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Unrest in Minneapolis

Share Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice/authorities-in-minneapolis-respond-to-reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents?smid=url-share

• live Updates
• Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti
• Who Was Pretti?
• Timeline
• Video Analysis
• Trump’s Response
• Shooting of Renee Good

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

Published Jan. 24, 2026, Updated Jan. 25, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ET

VIDEO ANALYSIS & Video verified by The New York Times shows the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis ›

Pinned

By Ernesto Londoño, Devon Lum, Hamed Aleaziz, and Mitch Smith – Ernesto Londoño reported from the scene in Minneapolis.

Here’s the latest.

Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analyzed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.

An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, killing him. Mr. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm, said the police chief, Brian O’Hara.

The shooting on a frigid morning in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions have reached a breaking point after weeks of aggressive federal immigration action. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to drive demonstrators away from the shooting scene as they demanded that local police officers arrest the agents who killed Mr. Pretti.

Officials said protests in Minneapolis had remained mostly peaceful, with a few exceptions. But as dusk fell, officials deployed the National Guard to ensure that demonstrations did not turn violent. At least 1,000 people turned out for a vigil for Mr. Pretti in Whittier Park on Saturday night, despite subzero temperatures.

A colleague of Mr. Pretti, Dimitri Drekonja, said he had worked as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. “He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” Mr. Drekonja said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

• Video analysis: Video footage posted to social media and verified by The Times shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. Other agents then pepper spray Mr. Pretti, who is holding a phone in one hand and nothing in the other. His weapon remains concealed until federal agents find and take it from him. Concealed or open carry is legal for permit holders in Minnesota. Read more ›
• Federal claims: President Trump and administration officials declared without evidence that Mr. Pretti intended to attack federal agents. Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of the president’s Border Patrol operations, said that Mr. Pretti was intent on a “massacre.” Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage.” Their accounts directly contradict video evidence of the encounter. Read more ›
• Investigators blocked: Drew Evans, who heads the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said federal agents had initially barred state investigators from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Mr. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant for access to a public sidewalk, but were still stymied. Federal officials eventually left the scene after clashing with protesters, but the demonstrations had grown large enough by that point to prevent state agents from investigating.
• Self-investigation: Federal authorities said the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Border Patrol, would lead the federal shooting investigation, with assistance from the F.B.I. But senior Homeland Security and Justice Department officials said it was already clear that Mr. Pretti and local officials were to blame.
• Minneapolis outrage: Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of terrorizing his city. “How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he asked. At least two other people have been shot there by federal agents this month, including Renee Good, 37, who was killed on Jan. 7. Read more ›
• “Force of good”: Accolades poured in for Mr. Pretti from those who knew him. Ruth Anway, another nurse who worked with him, described Mr. Pretti as a passionate colleague and kind friend with a sharp sense of humor. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world,” she said. Read more ›

Jan. 25, 2026, 12:12 a.m. ET, Jan. 25, 2026, By Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.

“The need for emergency relief is urgent and undeniable,” the lawyers said in a letter.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Shawn Hubler

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said the city had filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This violence has to stop and the President must remove these armed, federal forces from Minneapolis and other American cities,” she said in a statement.

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear if the letter had been sent before or after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:40 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Witnesses describe the fatal shooting in court filings.

A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.

The shooting of Mr. Pretti, 37, renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions over aggressive federal immigration action are high. Video footage of the encounter appeared to contradict parts of the federal government’s narrative of what happened, and the latest court filings raised further questions.

The doctor, whose name was redacted from the publicly available version of the court filing, described themselves as a pediatrician and said they had witnessed parts of the encounter from a nearby apartment. Though their view was from a distance, they described seeing a man being shoved to the ground and then shot several times. After the gunfire, they described going outside, telling an agent that they were a physician and asking to check the person who had been shot.

The doctor said they were initially turned down, but eventually allowed to go to the person after being patted down.

“Normally, I would not have been so persistent,” the doctor said in their statement, “but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.”

The doctor described checking for a pulse, finding none, and then beginning C.P.R. The man appeared to have been shot several times, the doctor said. Shortly after he started C.P.R., emergency medical personnel arrived and took over, the doctor said.\

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A doctor described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated when the doctor tried to approach and render aid to Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

After the shooting, the doctor described returning home as protests intensified.

“I was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably,” they said in the statement.

Once tear gas began seeping into their apartment from the street below, they said they got in a car and drove to a friend’s home.

“I am not sure when I will return to my apartment,” the doctor wrote. “I do not feel safe in my city.”

Almost immediately after agents shot Mr. Pretti on Saturday morning, federal officials claimed that he had endangered agents with a gun he was carrying, and some later accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

But videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting, and the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said that Mr. Pretti was believed to be licensed to legally carry a gun.

Another person who said they witnessed the shooting also submitted a sworn statement in court on Saturday. Like the doctor’s statement, it was filed as part of a lawsuit challenging federal agents’ interactions with protesters.

“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” said that person, who described themselves as a children’s entertainer specializing in face painting. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

That witness described hearing whistles — which Minneapolis residents have used to alert people to the presence of immigration agents — and going toward the noise to observe and record on Saturday morning.

The person said they walked toward an area where someone was being thrown to the ground and then started filming. When an agent asked them to move back, the witness said, they slowly did so. Another man who was in the street and who was also recording remained there and continued filming, the witness said.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray,” the witness statement said. “The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.”

One person was thrown to the ground by an agent, the witness said, and pepper spray was used. The man who had been filming — almost certainly Mr. Pretti, though no name was used in the court filing — tried to help the person who had fallen, the statement said.

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A person who described themselves as a children’s entertainer said they witnessed the shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

“The agents pulled the man on the ground,” the statement said, adding that the witness was perhaps five feet away. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

The court filing said that a video taken by the witness was also filed with the court, but that footage was not immediately accessible through an online court records system.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the witness statements.

Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this week that blocked the injunction.

On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Orlando Mayorquin

In California, thousands of protesters gathered for anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, among other cities. Protesters in downtown L.A. blew whistles in solidarity with immigrant neighborhoods across the country, where people have begun using the sound to signal ICE sightings. One man carried the state flags of California and Minnesota, tied together.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Unrest in Minneapolis

Share Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice/authorities-in-minneapolis-respond-to-reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents?smid=url-share

• live Updates
• Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti
• Who Was Pretti?
• Timeline
• Video Analysis
• Trump’s Response
• Shooting of Renee Good

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

Published Jan. 24, 2026, Updated Jan. 25, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ET

VIDEO ANALYSIS & Video verified by The New York Times shows the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis ›

Pinned

By Ernesto Londoño, Devon Lum, Hamed Aleaziz, and Mitch Smith – Ernesto Londoño reported from the scene in Minneapolis.

Here’s the latest.

Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analyzed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.

An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, killing him. Mr. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm, said the police chief, Brian O’Hara.

The shooting on a frigid morning in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions have reached a breaking point after weeks of aggressive federal immigration action. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to drive demonstrators away from the shooting scene as they demanded that local police officers arrest the agents who killed Mr. Pretti.

Officials said protests in Minneapolis had remained mostly peaceful, with a few exceptions. But as dusk fell, officials deployed the National Guard to ensure that demonstrations did not turn violent. At least 1,000 people turned out for a vigil for Mr. Pretti in Whittier Park on Saturday night, despite subzero temperatures.

A colleague of Mr. Pretti, Dimitri Drekonja, said he had worked as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. “He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” Mr. Drekonja said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

• Video analysis: Video footage posted to social media and verified by The Times shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. Other agents then pepper spray Mr. Pretti, who is holding a phone in one hand and nothing in the other. His weapon remains concealed until federal agents find and take it from him. Concealed or open carry is legal for permit holders in Minnesota. Read more ›
• Federal claims: President Trump and administration officials declared without evidence that Mr. Pretti intended to attack federal agents. Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of the president’s Border Patrol operations, said that Mr. Pretti was intent on a “massacre.” Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage.” Their accounts directly contradict video evidence of the encounter. Read more ›
• Investigators blocked: Drew Evans, who heads the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said federal agents had initially barred state investigators from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Mr. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant for access to a public sidewalk, but were still stymied. Federal officials eventually left the scene after clashing with protesters, but the demonstrations had grown large enough by that point to prevent state agents from investigating.
• Self-investigation: Federal authorities said the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Border Patrol, would lead the federal shooting investigation, with assistance from the F.B.I. But senior Homeland Security and Justice Department officials said it was already clear that Mr. Pretti and local officials were to blame.
• Minneapolis outrage: Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of terrorizing his city. “How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he asked. At least two other people have been shot there by federal agents this month, including Renee Good, 37, who was killed on Jan. 7. Read more ›
• “Force of good”: Accolades poured in for Mr. Pretti from those who knew him. Ruth Anway, another nurse who worked with him, described Mr. Pretti as a passionate colleague and kind friend with a sharp sense of humor. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world,” she said. Read more ›

Jan. 25, 2026, 12:12 a.m. ET, Jan. 25, 2026, By Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.

“The need for emergency relief is urgent and undeniable,” the lawyers said in a letter.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Shawn Hubler

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said the city had filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This violence has to stop and the President must remove these armed, federal forces from Minneapolis and other American cities,” she said in a statement.

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear if the letter had been sent before or after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:40 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Witnesses describe the fatal shooting in court filings.

A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.

The shooting of Mr. Pretti, 37, renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions over aggressive federal immigration action are high. Video footage of the encounter appeared to contradict parts of the federal government’s narrative of what happened, and the latest court filings raised further questions.

The doctor, whose name was redacted from the publicly available version of the court filing, described themselves as a pediatrician and said they had witnessed parts of the encounter from a nearby apartment. Though their view was from a distance, they described seeing a man being shoved to the ground and then shot several times. After the gunfire, they described going outside, telling an agent that they were a physician and asking to check the person who had been shot.

The doctor said they were initially turned down, but eventually allowed to go to the person after being patted down.

“Normally, I would not have been so persistent,” the doctor said in their statement, “but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.”

The doctor described checking for a pulse, finding none, and then beginning C.P.R. The man appeared to have been shot several times, the doctor said. Shortly after he started C.P.R., emergency medical personnel arrived and took over, the doctor said.\

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A doctor described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated when the doctor tried to approach and render aid to Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

After the shooting, the doctor described returning home as protests intensified.

“I was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably,” they said in the statement.

Once tear gas began seeping into their apartment from the street below, they said they got in a car and drove to a friend’s home.

“I am not sure when I will return to my apartment,” the doctor wrote. “I do not feel safe in my city.”

Almost immediately after agents shot Mr. Pretti on Saturday morning, federal officials claimed that he had endangered agents with a gun he was carrying, and some later accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

But videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting, and the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said that Mr. Pretti was believed to be licensed to legally carry a gun.

Another person who said they witnessed the shooting also submitted a sworn statement in court on Saturday. Like the doctor’s statement, it was filed as part of a lawsuit challenging federal agents’ interactions with protesters.

“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” said that person, who described themselves as a children’s entertainer specializing in face painting. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

That witness described hearing whistles — which Minneapolis residents have used to alert people to the presence of immigration agents — and going toward the noise to observe and record on Saturday morning.

The person said they walked toward an area where someone was being thrown to the ground and then started filming. When an agent asked them to move back, the witness said, they slowly did so. Another man who was in the street and who was also recording remained there and continued filming, the witness said.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray,” the witness statement said. “The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.”

One person was thrown to the ground by an agent, the witness said, and pepper spray was used. The man who had been filming — almost certainly Mr. Pretti, though no name was used in the court filing — tried to help the person who had fallen, the statement said.

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A person who described themselves as a children’s entertainer said they witnessed the shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

“The agents pulled the man on the ground,” the statement said, adding that the witness was perhaps five feet away. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

The court filing said that a video taken by the witness was also filed with the court, but that footage was not immediately accessible through an online court records system.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the witness statements.

Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this week that blocked the injunction.

On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Orlando Mayorquin

In California, thousands of protesters gathered for anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, among other cities. Protesters in downtown L.A. blew whistles in solidarity with immigrant neighborhoods across the country, where people have begun using the sound to signal ICE sightings. One man carried the state flags of California and Minnesota, tied together.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Unrest in Minneapolis

Share Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice/authorities-in-minneapolis-respond-to-reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents?smid=url-share

• live Updates
• Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti
• Who Was Pretti?
• Timeline
• Video Analysis
• Trump’s Response
• Shooting of Renee Good

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

Published Jan. 24, 2026, Updated Jan. 25, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ET

VIDEO ANALYSIS & Video verified by The New York Times shows the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis ›

Pinned

By Ernesto Londoño, Devon Lum, Hamed Aleaziz, and Mitch Smith – Ernesto Londoño reported from the scene in Minneapolis.

Here’s the latest.

Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analyzed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.

An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, killing him. Mr. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm, said the police chief, Brian O’Hara.

The shooting on a frigid morning in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions have reached a breaking point after weeks of aggressive federal immigration action. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to drive demonstrators away from the shooting scene as they demanded that local police officers arrest the agents who killed Mr. Pretti.

Officials said protests in Minneapolis had remained mostly peaceful, with a few exceptions. But as dusk fell, officials deployed the National Guard to ensure that demonstrations did not turn violent. At least 1,000 people turned out for a vigil for Mr. Pretti in Whittier Park on Saturday night, despite subzero temperatures.

A colleague of Mr. Pretti, Dimitri Drekonja, said he had worked as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. “He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” Mr. Drekonja said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

• Video analysis: Video footage posted to social media and verified by The Times shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. Other agents then pepper spray Mr. Pretti, who is holding a phone in one hand and nothing in the other. His weapon remains concealed until federal agents find and take it from him. Concealed or open carry is legal for permit holders in Minnesota. Read more ›
• Federal claims: President Trump and administration officials declared without evidence that Mr. Pretti intended to attack federal agents. Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of the president’s Border Patrol operations, said that Mr. Pretti was intent on a “massacre.” Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage.” Their accounts directly contradict video evidence of the encounter. Read more ›
• Investigators blocked: Drew Evans, who heads the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said federal agents had initially barred state investigators from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Mr. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant for access to a public sidewalk, but were still stymied. Federal officials eventually left the scene after clashing with protesters, but the demonstrations had grown large enough by that point to prevent state agents from investigating.
• Self-investigation: Federal authorities said the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Border Patrol, would lead the federal shooting investigation, with assistance from the F.B.I. But senior Homeland Security and Justice Department officials said it was already clear that Mr. Pretti and local officials were to blame.
• Minneapolis outrage: Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of terrorizing his city. “How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he asked. At least two other people have been shot there by federal agents this month, including Renee Good, 37, who was killed on Jan. 7. Read more ›
• “Force of good”: Accolades poured in for Mr. Pretti from those who knew him. Ruth Anway, another nurse who worked with him, described Mr. Pretti as a passionate colleague and kind friend with a sharp sense of humor. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world,” she said. Read more ›

Jan. 25, 2026, 12:12 a.m. ET, Jan. 25, 2026, By Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.

“The need for emergency relief is urgent and undeniable,” the lawyers said in a letter.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Shawn Hubler

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said the city had filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This violence has to stop and the President must remove these armed, federal forces from Minneapolis and other American cities,” she said in a statement.

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear if the letter had been sent before or after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:40 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Witnesses describe the fatal shooting in court filings.

A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.

The shooting of Mr. Pretti, 37, renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions over aggressive federal immigration action are high. Video footage of the encounter appeared to contradict parts of the federal government’s narrative of what happened, and the latest court filings raised further questions.

The doctor, whose name was redacted from the publicly available version of the court filing, described themselves as a pediatrician and said they had witnessed parts of the encounter from a nearby apartment. Though their view was from a distance, they described seeing a man being shoved to the ground and then shot several times. After the gunfire, they described going outside, telling an agent that they were a physician and asking to check the person who had been shot.

The doctor said they were initially turned down, but eventually allowed to go to the person after being patted down.

“Normally, I would not have been so persistent,” the doctor said in their statement, “but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.”

The doctor described checking for a pulse, finding none, and then beginning C.P.R. The man appeared to have been shot several times, the doctor said. Shortly after he started C.P.R., emergency medical personnel arrived and took over, the doctor said.\

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A doctor described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated when the doctor tried to approach and render aid to Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

After the shooting, the doctor described returning home as protests intensified.

“I was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably,” they said in the statement.

Once tear gas began seeping into their apartment from the street below, they said they got in a car and drove to a friend’s home.

“I am not sure when I will return to my apartment,” the doctor wrote. “I do not feel safe in my city.”

Almost immediately after agents shot Mr. Pretti on Saturday morning, federal officials claimed that he had endangered agents with a gun he was carrying, and some later accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

But videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting, and the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said that Mr. Pretti was believed to be licensed to legally carry a gun.

Another person who said they witnessed the shooting also submitted a sworn statement in court on Saturday. Like the doctor’s statement, it was filed as part of a lawsuit challenging federal agents’ interactions with protesters.

“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” said that person, who described themselves as a children’s entertainer specializing in face painting. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

That witness described hearing whistles — which Minneapolis residents have used to alert people to the presence of immigration agents — and going toward the noise to observe and record on Saturday morning.

The person said they walked toward an area where someone was being thrown to the ground and then started filming. When an agent asked them to move back, the witness said, they slowly did so. Another man who was in the street and who was also recording remained there and continued filming, the witness said.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray,” the witness statement said. “The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.”

One person was thrown to the ground by an agent, the witness said, and pepper spray was used. The man who had been filming — almost certainly Mr. Pretti, though no name was used in the court filing — tried to help the person who had fallen, the statement said.

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A person who described themselves as a children’s entertainer said they witnessed the shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

“The agents pulled the man on the ground,” the statement said, adding that the witness was perhaps five feet away. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

The court filing said that a video taken by the witness was also filed with the court, but that footage was not immediately accessible through an online court records system.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the witness statements.

Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this week that blocked the injunction.

On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Orlando Mayorquin

In California, thousands of protesters gathered for anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, among other cities. Protesters in downtown L.A. blew whistles in solidarity with immigrant neighborhoods across the country, where people have begun using the sound to signal ICE sightings. One man carried the state flags of California and Minnesota, tied together.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Unrest in Minneapolis

Share Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice/authorities-in-minneapolis-respond-to-reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents?smid=url-share

• live Updates
• Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti
• Who Was Pretti?
• Timeline
• Video Analysis
• Trump’s Response
• Shooting of Renee Good

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

Published Jan. 24, 2026, Updated Jan. 25, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ET

VIDEO ANALYSIS & Video verified by The New York Times shows the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis ›

Pinned

By Ernesto Londoño, Devon Lum, Hamed Aleaziz, and Mitch Smith – Ernesto Londoño reported from the scene in Minneapolis.

Here’s the latest.

Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analyzed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.

An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, killing him. Mr. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm, said the police chief, Brian O’Hara.

The shooting on a frigid morning in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions have reached a breaking point after weeks of aggressive federal immigration action. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to drive demonstrators away from the shooting scene as they demanded that local police officers arrest the agents who killed Mr. Pretti.

Officials said protests in Minneapolis had remained mostly peaceful, with a few exceptions. But as dusk fell, officials deployed the National Guard to ensure that demonstrations did not turn violent. At least 1,000 people turned out for a vigil for Mr. Pretti in Whittier Park on Saturday night, despite subzero temperatures.

A colleague of Mr. Pretti, Dimitri Drekonja, said he had worked as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. “He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” Mr. Drekonja said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

• Video analysis: Video footage posted to social media and verified by The Times shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. Other agents then pepper spray Mr. Pretti, who is holding a phone in one hand and nothing in the other. His weapon remains concealed until federal agents find and take it from him. Concealed or open carry is legal for permit holders in Minnesota. Read more ›
• Federal claims: President Trump and administration officials declared without evidence that Mr. Pretti intended to attack federal agents. Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of the president’s Border Patrol operations, said that Mr. Pretti was intent on a “massacre.” Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage.” Their accounts directly contradict video evidence of the encounter. Read more ›
• Investigators blocked: Drew Evans, who heads the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said federal agents had initially barred state investigators from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Mr. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant for access to a public sidewalk, but were still stymied. Federal officials eventually left the scene after clashing with protesters, but the demonstrations had grown large enough by that point to prevent state agents from investigating.
• Self-investigation: Federal authorities said the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Border Patrol, would lead the federal shooting investigation, with assistance from the F.B.I. But senior Homeland Security and Justice Department officials said it was already clear that Mr. Pretti and local officials were to blame.
• Minneapolis outrage: Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of terrorizing his city. “How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he asked. At least two other people have been shot there by federal agents this month, including Renee Good, 37, who was killed on Jan. 7. Read more ›
• “Force of good”: Accolades poured in for Mr. Pretti from those who knew him. Ruth Anway, another nurse who worked with him, described Mr. Pretti as a passionate colleague and kind friend with a sharp sense of humor. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world,” she said. Read more ›

Jan. 25, 2026, 12:12 a.m. ET, Jan. 25, 2026, By Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.

“The need for emergency relief is urgent and undeniable,” the lawyers said in a letter.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Shawn Hubler

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said the city had filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This violence has to stop and the President must remove these armed, federal forces from Minneapolis and other American cities,” she said in a statement.

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear if the letter had been sent before or after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:40 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Witnesses describe the fatal shooting in court filings.

A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.

The shooting of Mr. Pretti, 37, renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions over aggressive federal immigration action are high. Video footage of the encounter appeared to contradict parts of the federal government’s narrative of what happened, and the latest court filings raised further questions.

The doctor, whose name was redacted from the publicly available version of the court filing, described themselves as a pediatrician and said they had witnessed parts of the encounter from a nearby apartment. Though their view was from a distance, they described seeing a man being shoved to the ground and then shot several times. After the gunfire, they described going outside, telling an agent that they were a physician and asking to check the person who had been shot.

The doctor said they were initially turned down, but eventually allowed to go to the person after being patted down.

“Normally, I would not have been so persistent,” the doctor said in their statement, “but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.”

The doctor described checking for a pulse, finding none, and then beginning C.P.R. The man appeared to have been shot several times, the doctor said. Shortly after he started C.P.R., emergency medical personnel arrived and took over, the doctor said.\

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A doctor described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated when the doctor tried to approach and render aid to Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

After the shooting, the doctor described returning home as protests intensified.

“I was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably,” they said in the statement.

Once tear gas began seeping into their apartment from the street below, they said they got in a car and drove to a friend’s home.

“I am not sure when I will return to my apartment,” the doctor wrote. “I do not feel safe in my city.”

Almost immediately after agents shot Mr. Pretti on Saturday morning, federal officials claimed that he had endangered agents with a gun he was carrying, and some later accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

But videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting, and the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said that Mr. Pretti was believed to be licensed to legally carry a gun.

Another person who said they witnessed the shooting also submitted a sworn statement in court on Saturday. Like the doctor’s statement, it was filed as part of a lawsuit challenging federal agents’ interactions with protesters.

“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” said that person, who described themselves as a children’s entertainer specializing in face painting. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

That witness described hearing whistles — which Minneapolis residents have used to alert people to the presence of immigration agents — and going toward the noise to observe and record on Saturday morning.

The person said they walked toward an area where someone was being thrown to the ground and then started filming. When an agent asked them to move back, the witness said, they slowly did so. Another man who was in the street and who was also recording remained there and continued filming, the witness said.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray,” the witness statement said. “The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.”

One person was thrown to the ground by an agent, the witness said, and pepper spray was used. The man who had been filming — almost certainly Mr. Pretti, though no name was used in the court filing — tried to help the person who had fallen, the statement said.

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A person who described themselves as a children’s entertainer said they witnessed the shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

“The agents pulled the man on the ground,” the statement said, adding that the witness was perhaps five feet away. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

The court filing said that a video taken by the witness was also filed with the court, but that footage was not immediately accessible through an online court records system.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the witness statements.

Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this week that blocked the injunction.

On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Orlando Mayorquin

In California, thousands of protesters gathered for anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, among other cities. Protesters in downtown L.A. blew whistles in solidarity with immigrant neighborhoods across the country, where people have begun using the sound to signal ICE sightings. One man carried the state flags of California and Minnesota, tied together.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

Unrest in Minneapolis

Share Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice/authorities-in-minneapolis-respond-to-reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents?smid=url-share

• live Updates
• Shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti
• Who Was Pretti?
• Timeline
• Video Analysis
• Trump’s Response
• Shooting of Renee Good

Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun

Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict federal accounts of the shooting. The man, an I.C.U. nurse, was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said.

Published Jan. 24, 2026, Updated Jan. 25, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ET

VIDEO ANALYSIS & Video verified by The New York Times shows the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis ›

Pinned

By Ernesto Londoño, Devon Lum, Hamed Aleaziz, and Mitch Smith – Ernesto Londoño reported from the scene in Minneapolis.

Here’s the latest.

Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analyzed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.

An agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, killing him. Mr. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm, said the police chief, Brian O’Hara.

The shooting on a frigid morning in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions have reached a breaking point after weeks of aggressive federal immigration action. Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to drive demonstrators away from the shooting scene as they demanded that local police officers arrest the agents who killed Mr. Pretti.

Officials said protests in Minneapolis had remained mostly peaceful, with a few exceptions. But as dusk fell, officials deployed the National Guard to ensure that demonstrations did not turn violent. At least 1,000 people turned out for a vigil for Mr. Pretti in Whittier Park on Saturday night, despite subzero temperatures.

A colleague of Mr. Pretti, Dimitri Drekonja, said he had worked as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis. “He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” Mr. Drekonja said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

Here’s what we’re covering:

• Video analysis: Video footage posted to social media and verified by The Times shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. Other agents then pepper spray Mr. Pretti, who is holding a phone in one hand and nothing in the other. His weapon remains concealed until federal agents find and take it from him. Concealed or open carry is legal for permit holders in Minnesota. Read more ›
• Federal claims: President Trump and administration officials declared without evidence that Mr. Pretti intended to attack federal agents. Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of the president’s Border Patrol operations, said that Mr. Pretti was intent on a “massacre.” Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage.” Their accounts directly contradict video evidence of the encounter. Read more ›
• Investigators blocked: Drew Evans, who heads the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said federal agents had initially barred state investigators from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Mr. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant for access to a public sidewalk, but were still stymied. Federal officials eventually left the scene after clashing with protesters, but the demonstrations had grown large enough by that point to prevent state agents from investigating.
• Self-investigation: Federal authorities said the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Border Patrol, would lead the federal shooting investigation, with assistance from the F.B.I. But senior Homeland Security and Justice Department officials said it was already clear that Mr. Pretti and local officials were to blame.
• Minneapolis outrage: Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of terrorizing his city. “How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he asked. At least two other people have been shot there by federal agents this month, including Renee Good, 37, who was killed on Jan. 7. Read more ›
• “Force of good”: Accolades poured in for Mr. Pretti from those who knew him. Ruth Anway, another nurse who worked with him, described Mr. Pretti as a passionate colleague and kind friend with a sharp sense of humor. “He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world,” she said. Read more ›

Jan. 25, 2026, 12:12 a.m. ET, Jan. 25, 2026, By Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.

“The need for emergency relief is urgent and undeniable,” the lawyers said in a letter.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Shawn Hubler

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said the city had filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This violence has to stop and the President must remove these armed, federal forces from Minneapolis and other American cities,” she said in a statement.

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear if the letter had been sent before or after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:40 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter

Witnesses describe the fatal shooting in court filings.

A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.

The shooting of Mr. Pretti, 37, renewed protests and clashes with law enforcement in a city where tensions over aggressive federal immigration action are high. Video footage of the encounter appeared to contradict parts of the federal government’s narrative of what happened, and the latest court filings raised further questions.

The doctor, whose name was redacted from the publicly available version of the court filing, described themselves as a pediatrician and said they had witnessed parts of the encounter from a nearby apartment. Though their view was from a distance, they described seeing a man being shoved to the ground and then shot several times. After the gunfire, they described going outside, telling an agent that they were a physician and asking to check the person who had been shot.

The doctor said they were initially turned down, but eventually allowed to go to the person after being patted down.

“Normally, I would not have been so persistent,” the doctor said in their statement, “but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him.”

The doctor described checking for a pulse, finding none, and then beginning C.P.R. The man appeared to have been shot several times, the doctor said. Shortly after he started C.P.R., emergency medical personnel arrived and took over, the doctor said.\

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A doctor described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated when the doctor tried to approach and render aid to Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

After the shooting, the doctor described returning home as protests intensified.

“I was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably,” they said in the statement.

Once tear gas began seeping into their apartment from the street below, they said they got in a car and drove to a friend’s home.

“I am not sure when I will return to my apartment,” the doctor wrote. “I do not feel safe in my city.”

Almost immediately after agents shot Mr. Pretti on Saturday morning, federal officials claimed that he had endangered agents with a gun he was carrying, and some later accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

But videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the shooting, and the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said that Mr. Pretti was believed to be licensed to legally carry a gun.

Another person who said they witnessed the shooting also submitted a sworn statement in court on Saturday. Like the doctor’s statement, it was filed as part of a lawsuit challenging federal agents’ interactions with protesters.

“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” said that person, who described themselves as a children’s entertainer specializing in face painting. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

That witness described hearing whistles — which Minneapolis residents have used to alert people to the presence of immigration agents — and going toward the noise to observe and record on Saturday morning.

The person said they walked toward an area where someone was being thrown to the ground and then started filming. When an agent asked them to move back, the witness said, they slowly did so. Another man who was in the street and who was also recording remained there and continued filming, the witness said.

“The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray,” the witness statement said. “The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.”

One person was thrown to the ground by an agent, the witness said, and pepper spray was used. The man who had been filming — almost certainly Mr. Pretti, though no name was used in the court filing — tried to help the person who had fallen, the statement said.

Read a Witness Statement on the Pretti Shooting

A person who described themselves as a children’s entertainer said they witnessed the shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Read Document

“The agents pulled the man on the ground,” the statement said, adding that the witness was perhaps five feet away. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

The court filing said that a video taken by the witness was also filed with the court, but that footage was not immediately accessible through an online court records system.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the witness statements.

Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this week that blocked the injunction.

On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.

Jan. 24, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2026

Orlando Mayorquin

In California, thousands of protesters gathered for anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, among other cities. Protesters in downtown L.A. blew whistles in solidarity with immigrant neighborhoods across the country, where people have begun using the sound to signal ICE sightings. One man carried the state flags of California and Minnesota, tied together.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun – The New York Times

CBP Agent Guns Down #Minneapolis Nurse: Video Analysis
Breakdown of video obtained by #DropSiteNews showing #CBP’s killing of #AlexJeffreyPretti on Saturday.
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/customs-border-patrol-agent-kills-minneapolis-nurse-video-analysis

Meghnad Bose, Rana Roudi, and Ryan Grim
Jan 24, 2026

Close-up video footage, obtained by Drop Site, shows one agent push a person to the ground and then deploy a chemical irritant twice on the 37-year-old Pretti, who had gone to help the person pushed. Around 8 agents then swarm and wrestle him to the ground. One of the officers then visibly unholstered his gun and fired multiple close-range gunshots at Pretti, a #Minnesota resident who was reportedly on the scene as an observer. There are 10 gunshots heard in all—at least five of them were fired at Pretti from a distance, while the person holding the camera shouts, “What the fuck did you just do?”

#ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights
#DefendRuleOfLaw
#DueProcessForAll
#StopTheDeportations
#immigration #deportations #ICE
#USA #US #USpol #politics
#news

Hmmmm, who do I trust on whether Alex Jeffrey Pretti had a gun on him, Bellingcat or Donald "The Paedo" Trump?

Just present both as having equal value Media, let the Public decide (but have it framed by you)

#AlexJeffreyPretti #Bellingcat #Trump #ICE #ICEMUSTBEDESTROYED #USPOL #USPOLITICS

Man Feds Killed in #Minneapolis Was an #Observer, Eyewitness Says

The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month. Neither victim appeared to be the target of immigration enforcement.

Noah Hurowitz, Jacqueline Sweet
January 24 2026, 12:55 p.m.

"The man federal agents fatally shot in Minneapolis Saturday did not appear to be a target of immigration enforcement, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke with The Intercept. One of the witnesses said the man appeared to be acting as a #civilianobserver.

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference Saturday that the victim was a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis and is believed to be a #UScitizen. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified him as #AlexJeffreyPretti.

"According to the paper and a public records database accessed by The Intercept, Pretti had a #Nursing license issued in 2021.

"The shooting came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good and a day after hundreds of thousands of people braved subzero temperatures to march in Minneapolis against weeks of rolling immigration-enforcement raids by ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.

"A video of the incident, which surfaced on Reddit just before 10 a.m. Central Time, shows a number of apparent federal agents in tactical gear wrestling with a person on the ground and striking them multiple times before a shot rings out. As many of the agents scatter from the person, at least nine more shots ring out and the person slumps to the ground.

"A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting and claimed that the man was carrying a handgun, attaching a photo of a Sig Sauer weapon. The Intercept has not been able to independently verify the Department’s claims. [AND CAN WE BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM THE #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity?!!]

"Minnesota allows open carrying of firearms by people with valid permits. O’Hara said Saturday that the victim’s only known law enforcement interactions were over traffic tickets, 'and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/minneapolis-killing-immigration-agent-federal-crackdown/

#USPol #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #DHS #KrustiGnome #StormTroopers

Man Feds Killed in #Minneapolis Was an #Observer, Eyewitness Says

The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month. Neither victim appeared to be the target of immigration enforcement.

Noah Hurowitz, Jacqueline Sweet
January 24 2026, 12:55 p.m.

"The man federal agents fatally shot in Minneapolis Saturday did not appear to be a target of immigration enforcement, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke with The Intercept. One of the witnesses said the man appeared to be acting as a #civilianobserver.

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference Saturday that the victim was a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis and is believed to be a #UScitizen. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified him as #AlexJeffreyPretti.

"According to the paper and a public records database accessed by The Intercept, Pretti had a #Nursing license issued in 2021.

"The shooting came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good and a day after hundreds of thousands of people braved subzero temperatures to march in Minneapolis against weeks of rolling immigration-enforcement raids by ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.

"A video of the incident, which surfaced on Reddit just before 10 a.m. Central Time, shows a number of apparent federal agents in tactical gear wrestling with a person on the ground and striking them multiple times before a shot rings out. As many of the agents scatter from the person, at least nine more shots ring out and the person slumps to the ground.

"A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting and claimed that the man was carrying a handgun, attaching a photo of a Sig Sauer weapon. The Intercept has not been able to independently verify the Department’s claims. [AND CAN WE BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM THE #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity?!!]

"Minnesota allows open carrying of firearms by people with valid permits. O’Hara said Saturday that the victim’s only known law enforcement interactions were over traffic tickets, 'and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/minneapolis-killing-immigration-agent-federal-crackdown/

#USPol #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #DHS #KrustiGnome #StormTroopers

Man Feds Killed in #Minneapolis Was an #Observer, Eyewitness Says

The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month. Neither victim appeared to be the target of immigration enforcement.

Noah Hurowitz, Jacqueline Sweet
January 24 2026, 12:55 p.m.

"The man federal agents fatally shot in Minneapolis Saturday did not appear to be a target of immigration enforcement, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke with The Intercept. One of the witnesses said the man appeared to be acting as a #civilianobserver.

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference Saturday that the victim was a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis and is believed to be a #UScitizen. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified him as #AlexJeffreyPretti.

"According to the paper and a public records database accessed by The Intercept, Pretti had a #Nursing license issued in 2021.

"The shooting came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good and a day after hundreds of thousands of people braved subzero temperatures to march in Minneapolis against weeks of rolling immigration-enforcement raids by ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.

"A video of the incident, which surfaced on Reddit just before 10 a.m. Central Time, shows a number of apparent federal agents in tactical gear wrestling with a person on the ground and striking them multiple times before a shot rings out. As many of the agents scatter from the person, at least nine more shots ring out and the person slumps to the ground.

"A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting and claimed that the man was carrying a handgun, attaching a photo of a Sig Sauer weapon. The Intercept has not been able to independently verify the Department’s claims. [AND CAN WE BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM THE #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity?!!]

"Minnesota allows open carrying of firearms by people with valid permits. O’Hara said Saturday that the victim’s only known law enforcement interactions were over traffic tickets, 'and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/minneapolis-killing-immigration-agent-federal-crackdown/

#USPol #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #DHS #KrustiGnome #StormTroopers

Man Feds Killed in #Minneapolis Was an #Observer, Eyewitness Says

The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month. Neither victim appeared to be the target of immigration enforcement.

Noah Hurowitz, Jacqueline Sweet
January 24 2026, 12:55 p.m.

"The man federal agents fatally shot in Minneapolis Saturday did not appear to be a target of immigration enforcement, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke with The Intercept. One of the witnesses said the man appeared to be acting as a #civilianobserver.

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference Saturday that the victim was a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis and is believed to be a #UScitizen. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified him as #AlexJeffreyPretti.

"According to the paper and a public records database accessed by The Intercept, Pretti had a #Nursing license issued in 2021.

"The shooting came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good and a day after hundreds of thousands of people braved subzero temperatures to march in Minneapolis against weeks of rolling immigration-enforcement raids by ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.

"A video of the incident, which surfaced on Reddit just before 10 a.m. Central Time, shows a number of apparent federal agents in tactical gear wrestling with a person on the ground and striking them multiple times before a shot rings out. As many of the agents scatter from the person, at least nine more shots ring out and the person slumps to the ground.

"A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting and claimed that the man was carrying a handgun, attaching a photo of a Sig Sauer weapon. The Intercept has not been able to independently verify the Department’s claims. [AND CAN WE BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM THE #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity?!!]

"Minnesota allows open carrying of firearms by people with valid permits. O’Hara said Saturday that the victim’s only known law enforcement interactions were over traffic tickets, 'and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/minneapolis-killing-immigration-agent-federal-crackdown/

#USPol #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #DHS #KrustiGnome #StormTroopers

Man Feds Killed in #Minneapolis Was an #Observer, Eyewitness Says

The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month. Neither victim appeared to be the target of immigration enforcement.

Noah Hurowitz, Jacqueline Sweet
January 24 2026, 12:55 p.m.

"The man federal agents fatally shot in Minneapolis Saturday did not appear to be a target of immigration enforcement, according to two eyewitnesses who spoke with The Intercept. One of the witnesses said the man appeared to be acting as a #civilianobserver.

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference Saturday that the victim was a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis and is believed to be a #UScitizen. The Minnesota Star Tribune identified him as #AlexJeffreyPretti.

"According to the paper and a public records database accessed by The Intercept, Pretti had a #Nursing license issued in 2021.

"The shooting came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good and a day after hundreds of thousands of people braved subzero temperatures to march in Minneapolis against weeks of rolling immigration-enforcement raids by ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.

"A video of the incident, which surfaced on Reddit just before 10 a.m. Central Time, shows a number of apparent federal agents in tactical gear wrestling with a person on the ground and striking them multiple times before a shot rings out. As many of the agents scatter from the person, at least nine more shots ring out and the person slumps to the ground.

"A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the shooting and claimed that the man was carrying a handgun, attaching a photo of a Sig Sauer weapon. The Intercept has not been able to independently verify the Department’s claims. [AND CAN WE BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM THE #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity?!!]

"Minnesota allows open carrying of firearms by people with valid permits. O’Hara said Saturday that the victim’s only known law enforcement interactions were over traffic tickets, 'and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/minneapolis-killing-immigration-agent-federal-crackdown/

#USPol #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #DHS #KrustiGnome #StormTroopers