MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democrats called for federal immigration agents to pull out of Minnesota after a Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters into the freezing streets and raising tensions in a city already shaken by another deadly shooting weeks earlier.
The man’s family identified him as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who had been taking part in protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in his hometown. After the shooting, a crowd formed in the area as protesters clashed with federal agents, who wielded batons and hurled stun grenades.
The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police under the direction of Governor Tim Walz, authorities said. Guard troops were deployed to both the shooting site and to a federal building where agents have faced protesters daily.
Details about what led to the shooting were limited, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that agents were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “resisted violently” as they tried to disarm him.
In short video clips captured by bystanders shortly after the shooting, Pretti is seen holding a cellphone, but none of the footage appears to show him with a weapon visible.
O’Hara said the police believe he was a “legal gun owner with a permit to carry.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news briefing that Pretti had shown up to “interfere with a law enforcement operation.” She questioned why he was armed, but did not offer details about whether Pretti drew or brandished a weapon in the confrontation with agents.
The agent who fired the shot is described by federal officials as having eight years of experience with the Border Patrol.
The president weighed in on social media, taking aim at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor.
He shared images of the weapon authorities say was recovered at the scene and wrote: “What is that? Where is the local police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE agents?”
Trump, a Republican, accused the governor and the Democratic mayor of “inciting an insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric.”
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with several other Democratic lawmakers, urged federal immigration authorities to quit Minnesota. She also called on Democrats to withhold votes to fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service. “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny,” she wrote on social media.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer later said Democrats would not vote for a spending package that includes money for the DHS, which oversees ICE. His statement heightened the risk of a partial government shutdown on January 30 when funding runs out.
Pretti was killed a little more than a mile from where a different ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, 37, on January 7, triggering widespread protests.
Pretti’s family released a statement late Saturday saying they are “devastated but also deeply angry” and described the deceased as a kind soul who hoped to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.
“The vile lies spread about our son by the government are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex clearly was not holding a weapon when he was attacked by Trump’s cowardly ICE killers. He has his cellphone in his right hand and his left hand, empty, is raised above his head as he tries to shield the woman whom ICE had just shoved while pepper spray was being sprayed,” the family statement read. “Please spread the truth about our son. He was a good man.”
In a video obtained by The Associated Press, a witness describes protesters blowing air horns and shouting insults at federal agents on Nicollet Avenue.
The footage shows a man in a brown jacket, a black hat, and black clothing pushing another man wearing a brown jacket, black hat, and black pants, who appears to be reaching toward a phone. The officer shoves the man in the chest and the two collapse backward while still embracing.
The clip then shifts to another part of the street and returns to the two individuals pulling apart. It then shows three officers surrounding the man.
Within moments, at least seven officers surround him. One is on his back, another appears to strike him in the chest with what looks like a baton. Several officers try to pin the man’s arms behind his back as he appears to resist. His face is briefly visible as the baton-wielding officer strikes him near the head several times.
A gunshot is heard, but with the officers surrounding the man, it is unclear where the shot originated. Several officers step back. More shots are heard. The officers retreat, and the man lies motionless in the street.
The police chief urged calm from both the public and federal law enforcement.
“Our demand today is that those federal agencies operating in our city do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that the effective enforcement of the law requires in this country,” he said. “We urge everyone to remain peaceful.”
Gregory Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has led the government’s immigration raids in major cities, said the officer who fired on the man had extensive training as a field security officer and in the use of less-lethal force.
“This is just the latest assault on law enforcement. Across the country, DHS personnel have been attacked, shot at,” he said.
Walz said he did not trust the federal officials and that the state would lead the investigation into the shooting.
But Drew Evans, head of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told reporters that federal officers blocked his agency from accessing the scene even after a search warrant had been issued and signed.
Protests erupted in several U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, demonstrators gathered at the shooting site despite dangerously cold conditions; by late afternoon, the worst of the cold snap had eased, though the temperature remained at -21°C (-6°F).
An angry crowd shouted at federal agents, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. One officer responded with a taunting mock farewell as he walked away, saying “Boo hoo.” Elsewhere, agents pushed a protester toward a vehicle. Protesters dragged trash cans from alleys to block streets, chanting “ICE out now” and “Watching ICE isn’t a crime.”
As night fell, hundreds observed a silent vigil beside a growing memorial at the shooting site. Some carried signs reading “Justice for Alex Pretti.” Others chanted the names of Pretti and Good. A nearby donut shop and a clothing store stayed open, offering warmth, water, coffee and snacks to protesters.
Caleb Spike said he had come from a nearby suburb to show support and vent his frustration. “It seems like something crazy happens every day,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s nauseating, it’s revolting.”
