(Minneapolis) Tension is rising a notch in Minneapolis, where American federal agents made a second victim on Saturday, arousing the anger of citizens and elected officials in this city shaken for weeks by demonstrations against the immigration police.
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The shooting sparked clashes between law enforcement and hundreds of protesters, while Minnesota elected officials reiterated their demands for the Trump administration to end its crackdown on immigration, which has already left two dead in January.
Images of the shooting circulated on social networks on Saturday morning. A video shows police officers restraining and beating an individual to the ground. After an initial detonation, the agents moved away from the man before shooting him several times.
Federal authorities say the victim approached Border Patrol agents with a semi-automatic pistol and intended to “massacre” them. However, an analysis of the videos of the scene carried out by the New York Times contradicts this version.
According to the images that have circulated, the man never appears to have brandished the weapon he was carrying and an officer had already taken it away from him when two of his colleagues opened fire, shooting him in the back while he was on the ground.
The victim, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse living in Minneapolis, was an American citizen and had no criminal record. A neighbor described him as an affable man. “He is not a violent person,” she assured.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHAEL PRETTI, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alex Pretti, 37 years old
Despite the freezing weather, protesters gathered in large numbers Saturday in Minneapolis to denounce the “murder” of Alex Pretti and call on immigration police to leave the city.
The tragedy comes two weeks after the death of Renée Nicole Good, a mother shot dead by an ICE agent in the street during a demonstration in the same city.
Conflicting versions
President Donald Trump quickly denied any error on the part of federal agents on Saturday. He blamed local Democratic officials for the violence seen in the streets of Minneapolis. “The mayor and governor are inciting insurrection with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Federal authorities also labeled Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” even before an investigation into his death was launched.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the version of events offered by federal authorities “absurd.” “Minnesota has had enough. It’s despicable,” said the elected Democrat on X.
In a filmed speech, the governor bluntly called on the Trump administration to “stop this occupation” of the state.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday called on Donald Trump to end ICE operations in his city. “How many more residents, how many more Americans must die or be seriously injured for this operation to end? “, he said.
Despite calls for de-escalation, Gregory Bovino, the head of Border Patrol agents, maintained that Alex Pretti attempted to assassinate agents. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to cause maximum damage and massacre the police,” he said during a press conference on Saturday.
PHOTO ADAM GRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the evening on Saturday, demonstrators erected a barricade near the scene of the tragedy.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Alex Pretti “was there to engage in violence” during a press briefing. White House advisor Stephen Miller called the man an “assassin” in a message relayed on X by Vice President JD Vance.
Federal officials have refused to release the identities of the officers involved in the shooting.
Shared horror
Following the death of Alex Pretti, Democratic senators announced they would block funding for ICE, a move that risks causing a partial shutdown of government activities.
The envelope provides $64.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including $10 billion for ICE. The measure would also fund the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as health care, transportation and education programs.
On Saturday, Senate Republicans said they were examining ways to separate Homeland Security funding from the rest of the package.
Several political actors denounced the behavior of federal agents in the hours following the shooting. John Mitnick, attorney general at the Department of Homeland Security under the first Trump administration, criticized his former employer on Saturday evening. “I am furious and embarrassed by the lawlessness, fascism and cruelty of DHS,” he wrote on social media.
New York Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino formally requested that officials from ICE, Border Patrol and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services testify at a public hearing. A rare discordant note among elected Republican officials, whose party generally supports the immigration policies of the Trump administration.
The American Nurses Association also denounced the killing of Alex Pretti, who was a member of the professional association.
With CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian
