Minneapolis | Democrats demanded that federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigid streets and increasing tensions in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.
Family members identified the man who was killed as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who protested President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered and protesters clashed with federal officers, who wielded batons and deployed flash bangs.
The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Gov. Tim Walz, officials said. Guard troops were sent to both the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off with demonstrators daily.
Information about what led up to the shooting was limited, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
Colorado comments
Colorado Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser: The more I learn about Alex Pretti, the angrier I get. He was a great American. His family and America deserve answers and accountability. May his memory help us stop ICE’s continued unmasked, unjustified, and dangerous operations.
Denver Democratic Rep. Diana Degette: This morning, masked, untrained ICE and CBP agents have reportedly once again escalated a situation and shot and killed a person in Minneapolis. This rogue agency is out of control. ICE and CBP must immediately leave Minnesota. ICE must be dismantled, and Secretary Noem must be impeached as soon as possible.
Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet: I am horrified to hear ICE murdered another person in Minneapolis this morning. This violence is wreaking havoc on our communities and it must stop. The President needs to remove these federal agents from our cities now. Kristi Noem must resign and the dehumanizing policies must end immediately.
Denver Democratic State Sen. Julie Gonzales: It is time to abolish ICE and pass humane immigration reform. No retraining, no tradeoffs like body cams for more funding. Abolish ICE.
Aurora Democratic Rep. Jason Crow: Another horrific killing by masked & untrained federal agents. ICE is terrorizing our communities and making us less safe.
Boulder Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse: Sickening. Abhorrent. Lawless. This cannot continue. The Senate MUST block the ICE funding bill this week. Full stop.
Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper: Federal officers just shot another person in Minneapolis. This is horrific. We are still learning more about what happened, but one thing is clear, the President needs to get ICE and Border Patrol units out of our communities. NOW.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis: “Today’s shooting was tragic and unacceptable. There must be a full and impartial investigation into this fatal shooting in Minnesota, and full accountability for those responsible and involved. To anyone peacefully exercising your First Amendment rights, Colorado stands with you. Americans are experiencing violence and intimidation by our own government. It is unacceptable and must end. Americans are not blind and can see the dangers of the current approach and tactics from ICE.”
Contradicting accounts
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when they tried to disarm him.
In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.
O’Hara said police believe he was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference that Pretti had shown up to “impede a law enforcement operation.” She questioned why he was armed but did not offer details about whether Pretti drew the weapon or brandished it at officers.
The officer who shot him is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.
Trump blames Democrats
The president weighed in on social media by lashing out at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor.
He shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered and said: “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”
Trump, a Republican, said the Democratic governor and mayor are “are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota. She also urged Democrats to refuse to vote to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying via social media: “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer later said that Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for DHS, which oversees ICE. Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out.
Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.
Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
Video shows officers, man who was shot
In bystander videos of the shooting reviewed by The Associated Press, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand; none of the videos appear to show him with a weapon.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said he watched one of several videos, said he saw “more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death.” Frey has said Minneapolis and St. Paul are being “invaded” by the administration’s largest immigration crackdown, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said he wanted to do “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” In posts on X, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti “a would-be assassin.”
The shooting Saturday occurred when officers were pursuing a man in the country illegally wanted for domestic assault, Bovino said. Protesters routinely try to disrupt such operations, and they sounded their high-pitched whistles, honked horns and yelled out at the officers.
Among them was Pretti. At one point, in a video obtained by The Associated Press, Pretti is standing in the street and holding up his phone. He is face-to-face with an officer in a tactical vest, who places his hand on Pretti and pushes him toward the sidewalk.
Pretti is talking to the officer, though it is not clear what he is saying.
The video shows protesters wandering in and out of the street as officers persist in trying to talk them back. One protester is put in handcuffs. Some officers are carrying pepper spray canisters.
Pretti comes in again when the video shows an officer wearing tactical gear shoving a protester. The protester, who is wearing a skirt over black tights and holding a water bottle, reaches out for Pretti.
The same officer shoves Pretti in his chest, leading Pretti and the other protester to stumble backward.
A different video then shows Pretti moving toward another protester, who falls over after being shoved by the same officer. Pretti moves between the protester and the officer, reaching his arms out toward the officer. The officer deploys pepper spray, and Pretti raises his hand and turns his face. The officer grabs Pretti’s hand to bring it behind his back, and deploys the pepper spray canister again and then pushes Pretti away.
Seconds later, at least a half-dozen federal officers surround Pretti, who is wrestled to the ground and hit several times. Several agents try to bring Pretti’s arms behind his back, and he struggles.
Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backs away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.
Someone shouts “gun, gun.” It is not clear if that’s a reference to the weapon authorities say Pretti had.
And then the first shot is heard.
Videos do not clearly show who fired the first shot. In one video, seconds before the first shot, one officer reaches for his belt and appears to draw his gun. That same officer is seen with a gun to Pretti’s back as three more shots ring out. Pretti slumps to the ground. Videos show the officers backing away, some with guns drawn. More shots are fired.
The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not say if Pretti, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, brandished the gun or kept it hidden.
An agency statement said officers fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “violently resisted” officers tried to disarm him.
Walz expressed dismay at the characterization.
“I’ve seen the videos, from several angles, and it’s sickening,” he said.
Protests continue
Demonstrations broke out in several cities across the country including New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, protesters converged at the scene of the shooting in Minneapolis despite dangerously cold weather — by the afternoon the worst of an extreme cold wave was over, but the temperature was still -6 degrees (-21 Celsius).
An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car. Protesters dragged garbage dumpsters from alleyways to block streets, and people chanted “ICE out now” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”
As dark fell hundreds of people mourned quietly by a growing memorial at the site of the shooting. Some carried signs saying “Justice for Alex Pretti.” Others chanted Pretti’s and Good’s names. A doughnut shop and a clothing store nearby stayed open, offering protesters a warm place as well as water, coffee and snacks.
Caleb Spike said he came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”
Santana reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto, Tim Sullivan and Sarah Raza in Minnesota, Jim Mustian in New York, Michael Catalini in New Jersey and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.
This article could very well be called “Ask a Confederate.”
These tactics by Democrat Party leaders in Minneapolis remind me of tactics used by Hamas when fighting Israel. They used human shields and didn’t mind if their people were killed because they could then use their deaths to create world-wide sympathy for their cause. Walz and Frey are encouraging their organized band of BLM rioters to violently resist and attack Federal ICE officers enforcing U.S. immigration laws. Then when one of these rioters is fatally injured as a result of their actions, their media friends show a picture of the perpetrator in his “cub scout uniform” to promote sympathy for their insurrectionist cause.
Why did your coverage show only the officers’ response while ignoring the moment he violently shoved a woman to the ground? That kind of selective editing misleads the public and further undermines trust in your reporting.
These people who are being killed would still be alive were it not for Trump’s retribution ICE roundup. He holds Minnesota and any other state that did not vote for him in contempt and it manifests itself in ordinary citizen’s deaths who witness and protest the violent apprehension of MOSTLY law-abiding migrants awaiting the next step on their journey to become a citizen! This is purely a politically-driven attempt to intimidate the citizenry by an authoritarian and his henchmen. None of his toady cabinet earned their position through expertise, they groveled their way to the top of these agencies by kissing Trump’s diapered rear end. It’s sickening to hear them rush to judgement, blaming the killings on the protesters. Especially, when we know how poorly trained these ICE agents are. The protesters are NOT paid agitators as Trump argues, they are fed up ordinary citizens like you an me! The overwhelming majority of these immigrants being rounded up heve jobs, pay taxes, and have families! This is BS!
Rather than respect the will of the people to close the border and reverse the invasion of our nation by deporting illegals, the Democrats have instead undermined democracy and turned to activist judges and the mob to get their way.
A “peaceful” protester doesn’t show up with a Swiss-designed SIG 9-mm semiautomatic pistol with two extended magazines with 20 rounds per. A well armed insurrectionist does.
History is not kind to insurrectionists. South Carolina lost 18,000 soldiers in the Civil War because their leaders believed the Supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution really didn’t apply to them.
As a moderate Independent who loves both sides of his extended family and who appreciates the lessons of history, I would strongly urge moderation — not insurrection.