Immigration Agents K*ll U.S. Citizen in Minneapolis, Sparking Protests
Federal immigration agents have shot and killed another U.S. citizen during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, intensifying anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline deportation campaign and prompting urgent calls for the withdrawal of federal forces from Minnesota.
Officials say a U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire on 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse and Minneapolis resident, during a raid on Saturday; he later died of his injuries in hospital. Authorities describe the shooting as an act of self-defense, claiming Pretti was armed with a handgun and “violently resisted” efforts to disarm him.
Bystander videos and eyewitness accounts, however, appear to contradict that narrative and have fueled public outrage. In footage shared widely on social media, Pretti is seen standing in the street filming agents on his phone before being pepper-sprayed, tackled by multiple officers, beaten on the ground and then shot several times at close range. His parents insist he was not holding a gun but his phone and say he was trying to help other protesters.
The killing is the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month, following the January 7 killing of 37-year-old Renee Good during a separate encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Civil rights groups say a Venezuelan man was also shot and injured in a separate incident last week, underscoring what they describe as a pattern of excessive force under the administration’s escalated operations.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned the latest shooting as “outrageous” and accused the Trump administration of waging “a campaign of organized brutality against the residents of our state.” He said he has demanded in a call with the White House that the president “terminate this operation” and “remove the thousands of untrained and aggressive officers from Minnesota immediately.” Walz also promised that state authorities would lead an investigation into the incident.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, visibly angry at a news conference, said he had seen video of “more than six masked federal agents beating one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” and questioned how many more people must die before the operation is halted. Representative Ilhan Omar called the shooting “an execution” and accused Trump of turning Minneapolis into a “war zone,” while Senator Amy Klobuchar demanded that ICE be pulled out of Minnesota.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Minnesota denounced the killing and demanded that federal agents withdraw from the city and other communities across the country. The groups said the latest death, coming after the killing of Renee Good, shows that “these federal agents are out of control” and urged Congress to curb the powers and funding of immigration enforcement agencies.
Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets around the shooting scene on Saturday, confronting heavily armed and masked agents who responded with tear gas and flashbang grenades. Demonstrators, many of whom have marched for days in subzero temperatures, chanted for federal officers to leave and accused them of terrorizing immigrant neighborhoods under the guise of public safety. Local officials and community leaders say Minneapolis has now become a central battleground in the national fight over immigration policy, police violence and federal intervention in U.S. cities