Man fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis identified
A 37-year-old man was shot and killed by federal immigration officers in South Minneapolis on Saturday morning on Nicollet Avenue near 26th Street.
Federal authorities say their agents shot the man because he threatened them with a gun, though state and local officials are condemning the shooting, saying it’s another example of out-of-control federal officers.
The man was identified as Alex Pretti by his parents, according to the Associated Press. Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officials said they tried to get access to the scene but were blocked by U.S. Department of Homeland Security personnel. DHS also would not allow a joint investigation into the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.photo
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media saying ICE agents were “conducting a targeted operation against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault” when an individual approached them with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Officers attempted to disarm the individual and a struggle ensued, DHS said.
“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots,” DHS said. “Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but (he) was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Several videos circulating online from bystanders, taken from multiple angles, appear to show Pretti stepping in to protect a woman before himself being pepper sprayed, tackled to the ground. Video appears to show an agent pulling an object from the back of Pretti’s waistband just before the first shot is fired.
Minneapolis officials asked members of the public “to remain calm and avoid the immediate area,” but bystanders 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.
President shares photo of gun, Walz responds
President Donald Trump posted a photo of the gun that DHS shared on social media earlier and wrote, “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go,” the White House’s rapid response account posted on X.
“Where are the local Police?” Trump wrote. “Why aren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!”
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” Trump’s post continued.
However, Gov. Tim Walz said at a press conference Saturday that he’s seen videos of the shooting from several angles and they’re “sickening.”
“Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this,” Walz said. “It must have the last word. As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period.”
Walz said the “federal occupation of Minnesota, long ago, stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement.”
“It’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state, and today, that campaign claimed another life,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which has been responding to protests at Whipple Federal Building, requested support from the Minnesota National Guard “to help them free up additional resources for other work that they need to do,” said Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke. The National Guard has been on active duty for the last week with soldiers prepared in the metro area.”
“We have started coordinating with them this morning on that,” Manke said Saturday. “… We are in parallel planning with other organizations within the state of Minnesota to include the State Patrol, Minnesota DNR and other local agencies to render assistance if requested.”
Minneapolis mayor asks for removal of federal agents
In remarks following the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey again called on federal immigration agents to leave the state.
“To President Trump: this is a moment to act,” Frey said, asking him to take “action now to remove these federal agents.”
Frey said he saw a video “of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death. How many more residents? How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?”
“How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values?” Frey said at a morning press conference. “How many times must local and national leaders … plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city?”
Frey added: “We have seen these kinds of operations in other places, in other countries, but not here in America, not in a way where a great American city is being invaded by its own federal government. I’m done being told that our community members are responsible for the vitriol in our streets. I’m done being told that our local elected officials are solely responsible for turning down the temperature.”
On Friday, 15,000 people protested in Minneapolis against ICE, Frey said.
“Those peaceful protests embody the very principles that both Minneapolis and America was founded upon,” Frey said. “Conversely, the mass militarized force and unidentified agents who are occupying our streets, that is what weakens our country.”
Police chief: ‘We need people to remain peaceful’
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during the press conference that there is an “incredibly volatile scene in South Minneapolis.” He said Minneapolis police are being assisted in the area by the Minnesota State Patrol.
Police received a report at 9:03 a.m. of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in the area of East 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue, O’Hara said. Officers found a man with multiple gunshot wounds, and “live-saving aid was being rendered,” he said. He was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. O’Hara said of the man killed: “We believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
Police hadn’t been “told any official reports of what has led up to the shooting,” but they’ve seen video circulating on social media, O’Hara said.
“Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” O’Hara said. He asked people to avoid the area and leave if they’re there.
O’Hara said he immediately called for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to respond and conduct an investigation of the shooting.
The BCA obtained a search warrant for the scene, but when their investigative team arrived they were blocked by Homeland Security agents from accessing the area, said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans Saturday afternoon.
The FBI was there and conducted a “crime scene evaluation” and, when they left, the BCA attempted “to move in to do our own scene investigation,” Evans said, but local and state police “were unable to hold that scene and it got overrun with protesters in the area and we were not able to reexamine that scene.”
Still, the BCA is aware of videos of the incident circulating, and welcomes “additional information provided to our team,” which “will continue a full investigation to the best of our ability with what we have,” Evans said.
Federal, local law enforcement leave the scene
Meanwhile, near the scene of the shooting — at the corner of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue — uniformed agents used unmarked vehicles to block off access to Nicollet Avenue after the shooting. Clouds of chemical irritants were visible and flash bangs could be heard in late morning.
Hundreds had gathered with protesters chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!,” calling ICE agents murderers and taunting them for their alleged lack of training. Others on the scene handed out water bottles and leaflets.
“They sent people out to instigate today after we had a huge protest yesterday. And then they decided — I don’t know who’s giving the orders — but they shot this guy and now what’s going to happen is the whole city’s going to erupt. And then what happens?” said Chris Foreman, of Apple Valley.
Foreman, who expressed concerns that the president may send in the military, said Gov. Tim Walz needs to have the federal officers arrested.
By early afternoon, federal as well as local law enforcement appeared to have left the scene.
Protesters remained, chanting “Our Streets” as they blocked off traffic in the area.
Saturday’s shooting is the third in as many weeks by immigration officers in Minneapolis, beginning with the killing of Renee Good. The second left one man with a gunshot injury to his leg.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in her office is working with the BCA to coordinate a state response.
She asked video from the scene to be submitted at https://hennepinprosecutor.evidence.com.
More reaction
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar on social media urged the president to remove ICE agents from the state.
“Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed. Get ICE out of Minnesota.”
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, responded to Klobuchar’s post with this comment:
“A domestic terrorist tried to assassinate federal law enforcement and this is your response? You and the state’s entire Democrat leadership team have been flaming the flames of insurrection for the singular purpose of stopping the deportation of illegals who invaded the country.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minneapolis, said in a statement: “this appears to be an execution by immigration enforcement.”
“I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community. It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,” Omar said. “This isn’t isolated or accidental. The Trump administration is trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us. This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement. ICE and CBP must leave Minnesota immediately.”
State Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, however, blamed the governor for “inflammatory rhetoric against law enforcement” for the situation.
“This tragedy is the result of escalating tensions led by Governor Walz (who) called this lawful operation an ‘occupation,’ and encouraged Minnesotans to resist rather than comply with law enforcement. His actions have turned this into a propaganda war.”
This story contains information from the Associated Press.
Nick Woltman contributed to this report.