Incoming Target CEO Michael Fiddelke has broken his silence about recent violence in a message to employees on Monday, after a second fatal shooting in the corporation’s home base of Minneapolis over the weekend.
“We’ll have time to talk very soon about our plans to move Target forward, but right now, as someone who is raising a family here in the Twin Cities and as a leader of this hometown company, I want to acknowledge where we are,” Fiddelke said in the video, according to a transcript published by CNBC.
“The violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful,” he said. “I know it’s weighing heavily on many of you across the country, as it is with me.”
Fiddelke did not name Alex Pretti, who was killed by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday, or Renee Good, who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Jan. 7.
He also did not mention President Donald Trump, ICE, or policy changes at Target. The company has been the target of protests across Minnesota after immigration officials detained two Target employees, who are U.S. citizens, during their shift in Richfield.
Clergy members in Minnesota met with outgoing CEO Brian Cornell, urging the company to call for ICE to withdraw from the state and call on Congress to end funding for ICE, according to USA Today. They also demanded that Target stand against unreasonable searches and seizures, and use its influence to ensure that the federal officer who killed Renee Good be prosecuted.
But there was no indication the company would agree to those specific measures in Monday’s message.
“We are doing everything we can to manage what’s in our control, always keeping the safety of our team and guests our top priority,” Fiddelke said.
He starts as CEO on Feb. 1 and currently serves as the company’s chief operating officer. In the video, he said he has been looking forward to starting the new role.
On Sunday, Fiddelke joined more than 60 CEOs in signing an open letter from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce that said businesses were working behind the scenes with government officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, the White House, Vice President JD Vance, and local mayors.
“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” the letter read.
Read the full transcript of Fiddelke’s video here:
Hi team.
In one week I will officially start as CEO.
We’re about to step into a new chapter for Target, and I’ve been looking forward to starting this work with you for some time, but this isn’t the first message I imagined I’d send.
We’ll have time to talk very soon about our plans to move Target forward, but right now, as someone who is raising a family here in the Twin Cities and as a leader of this hometown company, I want to acknowledge where we are.
The violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful.
I know it’s weighing heavily on many of you across the country, as it is with me.
What’s happening affects us not just as a company, but as people, as neighbors, friends and family members within Target.
We are doing everything we can to manage what’s in our control, always keeping the safety of our team and guests our top priority.
During my more than 20 years at Target, one of the things I’ve loved is how we are part of the communities where we operate.
Since the beginning, we’ve given 5% of our profits and millions of volunteer hours to make them strong and vibrant places to live and work.
In line with that, I’ve been meeting with a range of leaders and this weekend added my signature to a statement using our collective voice to call for calm, constructive dialogue and deescalation to reduce tension and keep people safe.
As that work continues, looking ahead to next week, I’ll spend my first days in the field listening and learning alongside our teams, and then we’ll come together for an all-team huddle to talk about how we’re moving our business forward.
Our leadership team is activated, HR is equipped, and our resources remain ready to give you the care and support you need.
Thank you for everything you do for each other, our guests, and our communities.
Deborah Fleischaker is the former executive secretary for the Department of Homeland Security and the former chief of staff at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden administration. She joined CBS News to discuss the fatal Border Patrol shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
A federal judge said there will be no decision on Monday in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s bid to end to Operation Metro Surge.
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are seeking a temporary restraining order in their lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration officials, arguing the influx of thousands of immigration agents to the state has caused “tremendous damage.”
Tricia McLaughlin, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary, previously called the suit “baseless.”
Judge Kate Menendez, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said at the end of Monday’s hearing she is going to take the time “to do everything I can to get it right” on whatever final decision she makes.
Menendez was just as skeptical of the rationale of the U.S. Department of Justice and Trump administration for the deployment and the number of federal officers deployed as she was the state’s arguments.
She started off by acknowledging the significance of Monday’s hearing and the weeks-long record of court filings in front of her, but said “most of the complexity … rests on the legal questions” of what Minnesota is asking for in the case and not on the actions of the Trump administration.
Judge Kate Menendez during the hearing in Minneapolis federal court on Jan. 26, 2026.
Cedric Hohnstadt
The plaintiffs’ arguments
Lindsey Middlecamp, an attorney with Ellison’s office, said Minnesota should not have to deal with this “unchecked invasion and occupation” another day, and asked Menendez to issue an immediate restraining order. Middlecamp argued that Operation Metro Surge, which she described as the largest federal deployment of law enforcement in U.S. history, has brought an “unprecedented force of masked agents” who are “racially profiling and inflicting violence” in their wake.
Ellison’s team also underlined the “pervasive and systematic retaliation against legal observers,” including the “indiscriminate use” of chemical irritants.
“They are finding any way they can to find and punish those who speak up against this misconduct,” Middlecamp said. “Harms are accruing every day.”
Menendez was skeptical of exactly what harms the state is alleging and under what past precedent case law can give her guidance to make a decision, and what exactly the solution is in this case.
Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter then alleged that DHS “designed” plans to force Minnesota to expend its resources.
“The difficulty with the case law on this situation is that this situation is unprecedented in the 250-year history of this country,” Carter said. “We have never had a federal government amass an army of 3,000 to 4,000 masked federal agents and sent them into a state to essentially stir the pot with conduct that is pervasive and includes widespread and illegal violent conduct.”
Menendez replied that while Minnesotans are in “shockingly unusual times,” she’s unsure if she has the leverage to stop it as a whole. She added that the “defining principle” of the argument is something that she is “struggling with here,” adding that the federal government has tremendous power in immigration enforcement.
Carter said he has seen a “crystallization” of efforts, citing Bondi’s “shakedown” letter.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and his legal team during the hearing in Minneapolis federal court on Jan. 26, 2026.
Cedric Hohnstadt
“‘You need to do these three things, and if you do it, we’ll get these officers off your streets,’” Carter said. “It’s a particularly damaging flavor of extortion.”
Carter cited the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights, which states the “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
“This administration is not content with the rule of law,” Carter said. “This administration is not content with the courts working this stuff out.”
Carter said instead, the administration is putting “violence on the streets” of Minnesota.
“That has to violate the 10th Amendment,” Carter said.
Menendez said she wants to know the parameters of the ruling if there is one, adding there is “no question” the federal government can enforce immigration laws, but she questioned how she is supposed to be able to delineate between legal response and illegal response by the government.
“I don’t know what the line is,” Menendez said. “Is it the motivation, is it the scope, is it the illegality?”
“That kind of coercion … when Congress legislating that states are required to run background checks, if those violate the 10th Amendment, this has to. It’s beyond debate,” Carter said. “This is so far beyond the pale of legality, this is such an affront on the sovereignty of the state.”
Carter also underlined the unprecedented nature of the Trump administration’s attack on states “based on personal animosity.”
“The president of the United States said, he said, ‘Minnesota, your day of retribution is here.’ That is crazy,” Carter said. “How can that not violate equal sovereignty … If this is the way things go, if this is not stopped, what is going to happen to the next administration?”
Menendez ultimately pushed back on the state’s requests for a temporary restraining order.
“You’re asking me for a TRO. What does it say? What exactly do I do?” Menendez said.
Carter argued that the easiest, most straightforward thing is to end Operation Metro Surge.
“The whole Operation Metro Surge is an illegal means to an illegal ends, so just end it,” Carter said. “End the whole thing, is the appropriate remedy here.”
Menendez replied with a question.
“I can do all that?” she said.
The defense’s arguments
After a brief recess, Menendez asked U.S. Department of Justice attorney Andrew Warden if the explicit goal of Operation Metro Surge was to get Minnesota to change the policies listed out in Bondi’s memo — the contents of which did not sit well with Menendez.
Warden replied that “the goal of the surge is to enforce federal law.” Menendez then pushed again, asking if Minneapolis changed its policies and the state did the same thing, would the surge end?
“I can’t commit to a specific numbers of officers leaving,” Warden said.
Menendez, pushing again, asked: “But it would change? Aside from the fact that policies have been in effect for years, if they changed policies tomorrow, you’d leave?”
“The goal of the surge is to enforce federal law,” Warden said.
Menendez then asked how Bondi’s letter and written statements to the court do not demonstrate that the purpose of the surge is to affect the three changes the U.S. attorney general listed. Warden deflected, adding there was a need for “compensation” to supplement the “vacuum” left by the state and local leaders on immigration enforcement.
“It’s not like you can fix it overnight, let’s say they fix it in a week. If it is true you’re there because those policies had consequences, do you think it’s true that the motivation matters?” Menendez said. “Let’s imagine Bondi said we are here till you change your policies? Does that not violate the anticommandeering principle?”
“If there is a less of a need for federal law enforcement, then our involvement will change,” Warden said, but added it’s “undisputed that federal law enforcement can be here enforcing federal immigration law.”
Menendez then pressed Warden on Mr. Trump’s comments on “retribution.”
“I have not exactly seen that Truth Social recently,” Warden said, referring to posts from the president’s social media platform.
Next, Menendez mentioned Chicago, which had a DHS surge last year, and cited the lower number of federal law enforcement officers who were deployed to a much larger city to deal with potentially a much larger problem. She said there are “vastly more” law enforcement in Minnesota “than was even thought to be necessary in Chicago.”
“Is there a point in which it can no longer be depicted as a rational law enforcement response?” Menendez said.
Warden responded by citing Trump’s Article II powers, and said it would be “difficult to craft a remedy in light of that,” adding that he doesn’t “see how a court can say this amount of officers is the right amount” if requested by DHS.
Menendez said Bondi’s letter “concerns” her in describing the DOJ’s goals, because all three points are already being litigated in federal court in the state.
Brantley Mayers, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, addresses federal Judge Kate Menendez as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and his team looks on during the hearing on Jan. 26, 2025, in Minneapolis.
Cedric Hohnstadt
“Is the executive trying to achieve a goal through force that it cannot achieve through courts?” Menendez said.
“No, your honor,” Warden said, adding that “when there’s a vacuum in law enforcement” the federal government has gone in historically. Warden said he “doesn’t see how” operating on one front in Minnesota stops the law enforcement there from enforcing other laws.
Warden and his justice department team finished their arguments by telling Menendez they do not see the grounds for an injunction of any type and that there would be an “administrability problem” with pausing Operation Metro Surge in any respect, adding it would be “very difficult to implement.”
The plaintiffs got the final word before recess on Monday, with Minneapolis city attorney Sarah Lathrop saying relief is needed because it’s “clear that the intense situation on the ground” is not getting better.
“The court in its exercise can say ‘we’re stopping, we’re pausing,’” Lathrop said, adding there’s a chance of proceeding the case over the long term.
“You don’t have to draw the lines now,” Lathrop said.
The plaintiffs asked for Menendez’s order to return the federal law enforcement back to the status quo in the state to Nov. 30, the day before Operation Metro Surge began.
Lathrop said an order needs to come now to “take down the temperature.”
“Not all crises have a fix from a district court injunction,” Menendez said. “There are other things that are supposed to reign in this kind of conduct. It must be that work is being done elsewhere to bring an end to what is described here, not just counting on a single district court writing a single preliminary injunction.”
Video footage of the fatal shooting of Minnesota resident Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer contradicts Trump administration officials’ claims about the event.
Since Pretti’s Jan. 24 killing in Minneapolis, the federal government has provided no evidence to substantiate early statements and shared no details about what happened before the confrontation and in the moments leading to a Border Patrol officer firing his gun.
Pretti, 37, was a U.S. citizen who worked as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was “brandishing” a handgun and “attacked” officers. Social media videos verified by multiple news organizations show Pretti, who had a concealed carry permit, holding a cell phone as he directed traffic and tried to help a woman pushed to the ground by an officer.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller called Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” the same term some Trump officials used to describe Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis woman killed Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Noem, Miller and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino said that because Pretti was carrying a handgun and ammunition, he planned to assassinate law enforcement — statements that incensed some Republicans who support Second Amendment rights.
“The suspect put himself in that situation,” Bovino said. “The victims are the Border Patrol agents there.”
Pretti’s parents called their son a “kindhearted soul” and said Trump officials were not telling the truth. “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” their Jan. 25 press statement said.
With many questions remaining unanswered, here’s how Trump administration officials’ explanations conflict with available information.
Video does not show Pretti approaching immigration agents with handgun
Noem said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.”
Bovino said, “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
News outlets’ analysis of videos of the incident from several angles do not show Pretti approaching immigration officials with a handgun.
In the footage, Pretti stands between an officer and two civilians. The officer disperses pepper spray at Pretti and the people standing behind him. A still image from bystander video shows Pretti holding up his left arm in reaction.
Several agents tackle Pretti to the ground. One officer appears to remove a gun from Pretti’s hip and walk across the street away from the group. Quickly after another officer fires several shots at Pretti as he is restrained by agents.
“What the videos depict is that this guy did not walk up to anybody from (Customs and Border Protection) in a threatening manner,” former acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence John Cohen told ABC News. “For (DHS) to construe that he arrived at that location with the intent to shoot those border patrol officers, there’s nothing in the video evidence that we’ve seen thus far that would support that.”
CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan asked Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara if he had seen any evidence that Pretti was “brandishing” a gun, as Noem said.
“You have a Second Amendment right in the United States to possess a firearm. And there are some restrictions around that in Minnesota,” O’Hara said Jan. 25 on “Face the Nation.” “And everything that we see that we are aware of shows that he did not violate any of those restrictions.”
Trump administration officials called Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist’
Miller described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.”
In a press conference after the shooting, Noem said Pretti “came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers.” She said Pretti “committed an act of domestic terrorism. That’s the facts.”
“When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism,” Noem said.
It’s the second time in a month that Noem said a person shot and killed by immigration officers was a domestic terrorist, before any investigation had taken place.
The FBI defines domestic terrorism as acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state criminal laws and appear intended to intimidate or coerce civilians; influence government policy by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.
Legal experts questioned the characterization of Good as a domestic terrorist, telling PolitiFact the label was prejudicial and an attempt to malign her.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated with additional statements and analysis. Check back later Jan. 26.
The first time Patrick Thaw saw his University of Michigan friends together since sophomore year ended was bittersweet. They were starting a new semester in Ann Arbor, while he was FaceTiming in from Singapore, stranded half a world away.
One day last June he was interviewing to renew his U.S. student visa, and the next his world was turned upside down by President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from 12 countries, including Thaw’s native Myanmar.
“If I knew it was going to go down this badly, I wouldn’t have left the United States,” he said of his decision to leave Michigan for a summer internship in Singapore.
The ban was one of several ways the Trump administration made life harder for international students during his first year back in the White House, including a pause in visa appointments and additional layers of vetting that contributed to a dip in foreign enrollment for first-time students. New students had to look elsewhere, but the hurdles made life particularly complicated for those like Thaw who were well into their U.S. college careers.
Universities have had to come up with increasingly flexible solutions, such as bringing back pandemic-era remote learning arrangements or offering admission to international campuses they partner with, said Sarah Spreitzer, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education.
In Thaw’s case, a Michigan administrator highlighted studying abroad as an option. As long as the travel ban was in place, a program in Australia seemed viable — at least initially.
In the meantime, Thaw didn’t have much to do in Singapore but wait. He made friends, but they were busy with school or jobs. After his internship ended, he killed time by checking email, talking walks and eating out.
“Mentally, I’m back in Ann Arbor,” the 21-year-old said. “But physically, I’m trapped in Singapore.”
When Thaw arrived in Ann Arbor in 2023, he threw himself into campus life. He immediately meshed with his dorm roommate’s group of friends, who had gone to high school together about an hour away. A neuroscience major, he also joined a biology fraternity and an Alzheimer’s research lab.
His curiosity pushed him to explore a wide range of courses, including a Jewish studies class. The professor, Cara Rock-Singer, said Thaw told her his interest stemmed from reading the works of Philip Roth.
“I really work to make it a place where everyone feels not only comfortable, but invested in contributing,” Rock-Singer said. “But Patrick did not need nudging. He was always there to think and take risks.”
When Thaw landed his clinical research internship at a Singapore medical school, it felt like just another step toward success.
He heard speculation that the Trump administration might impose travel restrictions, but it was barely an afterthought — something he said he even joked about with friends before departing.
Thaw’s U.S. college dream had been a lifetime in the making but was undone — at least for now — by one trip abroad. Stuck in Singapore, he couldn’t sleep and his mind fixated on one question: “Why did you even come here?”
As a child, Thaw set his sights on attending an American university. That desire became more urgent as higher education opportunities dwindled after a civil war broke out in Myanmar.
For a time, tensions were so high that Thaw and his mother took shifts watching to make sure the bamboo in their front yard didn’t erupt in flames from Molotov cocktails. Once, he was late for an algebra exam because a bomb exploded in front of his house, he said.
So when he was accepted to the University of Michigan after applying to colleges “around the clock,” Thaw was elated.
“The moment I landed in the United States, like, set foot, I was like, this is it,” Thaw said. “This is where I begin my new life.”
When Thaw talked about life in Myanmar, it often led to deep conversations, said Allison Voto, one of his friends. He was one of the first people she met whose background was very different from hers, which made her “more understanding of the world,” she said.
During the 2024-25 school year, the U.S. hosted nearly 1.2 million international students. As of summer 2024, more than 1,400 people from Myanmar had American student visas, making it one of the top-represented countries among those hit by the travel ban.
A Michigan official said the school recognizes the challenges facing some international students and is committed to ensuring they have all the support and options it can provide. The university declined to comment specifically on Thaw’s situation.
While the study abroad program in Australia sparked some hope that Thaw could stay enrolled at Michigan, uncertainty around the travel ban and visa obstacles ultimately led him to decide against it.
He had left Myanmar to get an education and it was time to finish what he started, which meant moving on.
“I cannot just wait for the travel ban to just end and get lifted and go back, because that’s going to be an indefinite amount of time,” he said.
He started applying to colleges outside the U.S., getting back acceptance letters from schools in Australia and Canada. He is holding out hope of attending the University of Toronto, which would put his friends in Ann Arbor just a four-hour drive from visiting him.
“If he comes anywhere near me, basically on the continent of North America, I’m going to go see him,” said Voto, whose friendship with Thaw lately is defined by daylong gaps in their text conversations. “I mean, he’s Patrick, you know? That’s absolutely worth it.”
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Vice President JD Vance on Sunday shared what he called a “crazy” account underscoring the dangers federal immigration officers are facing in Minneapolis, amid a series of agent-involved shootings and escalating unrest.
Recounting a recent visit to the city, Vance described an incident in which off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were doxxed while dining at a restaurant.
According to Vance, their location was publicly revealed, the restaurant was mobbed, and the officers were effectively trapped inside.
“When I was in Minneapolis, I heard a number of crazy stories. But near the top of the list: A couple of off duty ICE and CBP officers were going to dinner in Minneapolis,” Vance wrote on X. “They were doxed and their location revealed, and the restaurant was then mobbed. The officers were locked in the restaurant.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at Royalston Square in Minneapolis, on Jan. 22, 2026.(Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Vance said local police refused to respond when the officers called for help.
“The officers were locked in the restaurant, and local police refused to respond to their pleas for help (as they’ve been directed by local authorities),” he wrote. “Eventually, their fellow federal agents came to their aid.”
Federal agents are seen at City View Apartments in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026.(Adam Gray/AP Photo)
“This is just a taste of what’s happening in Minneapolis because state and local officials refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement,” Vance wrote. “They have created the chaos so they can have moments like yesterday, where someone tragically dies and politicians get to grandstand about the evils of enforcing the border.”
Vance urged Minneapolis officials to change course.
“The solution is staring everyone in the face. I hope authorities in Minneapolis stop this madness.”
A day earlier, Vance described the unrest in Minnesota as “engineered chaos” following another fatal federal agent-involved shooting.
Protesters chant and bang on trash cans as they stand behind a makeshift barricade during a protest in response to the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer earlier in the day, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Adam Gray/AP Photo)
On Saturday, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse who was carrying a licensed handgun while protesting a federal immigration enforcement operation, was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Authorities say Pretti resisted arrest after trying to intervene in the operation.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Sophia Compton is a Writer at Fox News Digital. Sophia was previously a business reporter covering finance, energy and tourism and has experience as a TV news producer. She graduated with a journalism degree in 2021 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Deep internal divisions have emerged within federal immigration enforcement over how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is handling the public fallout and messaging after a deadly Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis, Fox News has learned.
More than half a dozen federal law enforcement officials involved in immigration enforcement tell Fox News there is growing frustration with how senior officials have framed the incident publicly, fueling internal debates about tone, strategy and credibility as scrutiny intensifies.
The shooting happened during a morning immigration enforcement operation Saturday, when a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse. Authorities say Pretti was armed with a handgun and two magazines.
In the hours and days that followed, DHS officials publicly described Pretti as a domestic terrorist and said he was attempting to “inflict maximum damage” on federal agents or carry out a “massacre,” language that has drawn internal criticism from within the department, Fox News is told.
A woman blows her whistle at U.S. Border Patrol agents at a gas station in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 21, 2026.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials say multiple videos that later emerged have called into question the DHS narrative, fueling frustration among agents who believe senior officials moved too quickly to characterize the incident before all facts were known.
The internal disputes, officials say, have been damaging from a public relations and morale standpoint, eroding trust and credibility and intensifying broader debates within the administration over how DHS leadership handles high-profile, politically charged incidents.
The officials who spoke with Fox News said they support the mass deportation agenda, though they have serious hesitations about the messaging and how the agenda is being carried out.
Some officials described DHS’ response to the shooting as “a case study on how not to do crisis PR,” with one saying they are so “fed up” that they wish they could retire, another saying “DHS is making the situation worse,” and another adding that “DHS is wrong” and “we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.”
Fox News reached out to DHS for comment on concerns that its rhetoric and communications may have damaged the agency’s credibility.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem participates in a roundtable discussion with local ranchers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees in Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 7.(Michael Gonzalez/Getty Image)
“We have seen a highly coordinated campaign of violence against our law enforcement,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “This individual committed a federal crime while armed as he obstructed an active law enforcement operation. As with any situation that is evolving, we work to give swift, accurate information to the American people as more information becomes available.”
Officials say those internal frictions have now escalated, with widespread criticism that the aggressive tactics pushed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are eroding public support for the mass deportation agenda and putting federal agents at risk.
Fox News previously reported in October that deep internal friction had emerged within the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, with competing camps inside DHS divided over enforcement priorities, tactics and how aggressively to carry out deportations.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
Stephen Curry scored 26 points to lead the Golden State Warriors past Minnesota 111-85 on Sunday, the fifth straight loss for the Timberwolves and their longest skid in more than three years.
Curry added seven assists and four of his team’s season-high 20 steals after being listed as questionable to play because of knee soreness. Moses Moody added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors (26-21), who moved within 1 1/2 games of the Timberwolves (27-19) for seventh place in the Western Conference.
Brandin Podziemski had 12 points, six assists and four steals for the Warriors, who have won seven of their last 10 games.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 32 points and 11 rebounds after the game was postponed a day following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by federal immigration officers.
There was a pregame moment of silence held for Alex Pretti, and a subdued crowd found little to cheer as the Timberwolves stumbled to their lowest final score in more than four years since a 104-84 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Nov. 5, 2021. This was their first time under 100 points this season.
The Timberwolves found a burst of energy for a 10-0 run to close the first half, capped by a 3-pointer from Edwards that cut Golden State’s lead to 47-46. But they started the third quarter as flat as they did the first and trailed by double digits for the final 16:15 of the game. The last skid this long for the Timberwolves was six games from Dec. 21-31, 2022.
Forwards Julius Randle (11 points) and Jaden McDaniels (three points) combined to shoot 4 for 19 from the floor for the Timberwolves.
After the rematch here on Monday night, Golden State plays at Utah, and Minnesota plays at Dallas, both on Wednesday.
President Trump addressed Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, writing, “Let our ICE patriots do their job.” He also accused the mayor of Minneapolis and governor of Minnesota of “inciting insurrection.” Willie James Inman reports.
President Donald Trump was riding high early this month after the U.S. military pulled off a stunning raid that captured dictator Nicolas Maduro.
But just three weeks later, he has run into significant resistance on multiple fronts, challenging his economic, foreign relations, and immigration policies. The second deadly shooting in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents this weekend has unleashed broad outrage that could signal a tipping point.
“Starting to feel like we are in the midst of a historic hinge moment here,” political scientist Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the New America think tank, posted on X.
Trump appeared to acknowledge his new situation, telling the Wall Street Journal on Sunday night that the administration is “reviewing everything” about the shooting and indicated willingness to eventually withdraw immigration officers from Minneapolis.
A retreat could hint at an eroding base after Trump enjoyed widespread support among Republicans for much of 2025 even as his aggressive tariffs shocked businesses and trading partners, including close U.S. allies.
But cracks emerged late in the year as November elections highlighted the affordability crisis and Congress ordered the release of the Epstein files on near-unanimous votes. Heavy redactions and the Justice Department’s failure to disclose all of the records by the deadline added to the tension.
The conversation quickly changed when Maduro was toppled as Trump basked in the U.S. military’s proficiency and his new ability to call the shots in Venezuela, despite grumblings that another foreign intervention strayed from his “America first” motto.
The Fed
Then two weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued an unprecedented video statement that revealed he was facing a Justice Department criminal investigation related to a renovation project at the central bank’s headquarters.
It capped a long-running feud between Powell and Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that rates should be lower.
The backlash was swift as lawmakers sought to protect the Fed’s independence. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis vowed to block any nominations to the Fed, including for Powell’s replacement, until the case was resolved.
Other Republicans rallied around Powell, marking another divergence from Trump’s earlier lockstep support. And after weeks of teasing that he would soon nominate a new Fed chair, Trump has yet to officially offer a name.
Still, the resounding success of the Venezuela operation was continuing to prop up his confidence, and Trump threatened Iran while promising to help protesters taking on the regime.
Greenland
But then the bravado extended to Greenland. After flirting with the idea of taking over the semi-autonomous Danish territory in his first term and last year, the insistence that the island belong to the U.S. became more urgent after Venezuela.
Several European countries, all NATO allies, then deployed troops to Greenland, ostensibly to show Trump that they were willing to secure it from China and Russia, which he warned were major threats.
But that angered Trump, who announced tariffs against the NATO countries unless they supported his bid to take over Greenland. It triggered an existential crisis for the trans-Atlantic alliance as Trump had also refused to rule out using the military.
At the World Economic Forum this past week in Davos, furious rounds of diplomacy ensued to pull Trump back from the brink of smashing the nearly 80-year-old defense pact. Republicans like Tillis also voiced support for NATO.
Canada and Europe held firm on protecting Greenland’s sovereignty, contrasting with a less combative approach in last year’s tariff battles, which yielded a lopsided U.S.-EU trade pact that’s heavily favors Trump.
On Wednesday, he backed down, saying he will not impose the NATO tariffs and claimed to have a “framework” of a deal that grants the U.S. full access to Greenland. He later said the U.S. is negotiating sovereignty over parts of Greenland that host American military bases.
Minnesota
Fury had been building for weeks after Trump surged thousands of federal agents to the state to carry out his immigration crackdown.
Saturday’s shooting was the third one in Minnesota this month, and the second deadly one. It also followed days of reports about immigration officers detaining young children, arresting U.S. citizens, and forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants.
Video evidence also clearly contradicted the Trump administration’s claim that Alex Pretti, who was a nurse in a veterans hospital, threatened the Border Patrol before being shot.
Silicon Valley workers expressed their anger, and Minnesota-based CEOs pleaded for de-escalation. Democrats in Congress stiffened their opposition to an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, more Republicans have started to voice some uneasiness with federal agents’ tactics and are demanding congressional hearings.
“I think the death of Americans, what we’re seeing on TV, it’s causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt told CNN on Sunday. “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now.”
Phil Scott, the Republican governor of deep-blue Vermont, took the rhetoric further. In a post on X, he said Trump should pause the immigration operations to reset the focus on criminals. He also urged Congress and the courts to “restore constitutionality” in the absence of presidential action.
“It’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government,” he wrote. “At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training, and leadership. At worst, it’s a deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens that’s resulting in the murder of Americans.”
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Finch’s voice cracked and faltered as the coach expressed on behalf of the Minnesota Timberwolves their heartbreak for the community’s collective fear and pain from the ongoing immigration crackdown, following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by a federal officer.
Finch presents a straightforward, no-nonsense approach in his public statements and rarely reveals much emotion, but he was clearly moved by the situation in Minneapolis before his team hosted Golden State on Sunday. The game between the Timberwolves and Warriors was postponed by 24 hours, after Pretti was killed on Saturday.
“I’m more than a resident. This is my home. I love living here. I love being a part of this community. I’ve been embraced from day one. People have been amazing. It’s sad to watch what is happening,” said Finch, who was hired by the Timberwolves five years ago. “On the human level, certainly as somebody who takes great pride in being here, I know a lot of our players feel the same. They all love being here, and it’s just hard to watch what we’re going through.”
The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Pretti prior to the national anthem, just as they did for Renee Good before their game on Jan. 8, the day after she was fatally shot by a federal officer. The Trump administration in December launched what the Department of Homeland Security declared the largest immigration enforcement operation in history and earlier this month announced a surge of more officers to push their force past 2,000.
The NBA announced Saturday that the rescheduling decision was made to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community” after Pretti was killed during a confrontation in a commercial district less than 2 miles south of Target Center. Finch said on Sunday that the Timberwolves pushed for the postponement to respect the public grieving process.
“Playing basketball just didn’t feel like the right thing to do,” Finch said, thanking the NBA and the Warriors for their support.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, long one of the league’s most outspoken coaches, was measured but clearly moved as he expressed his own sympathy.
“This has always been a great stop on the NBA tour. I love the city of Minneapolis. People here are wonderful, and it’s very sad what’s happening. I feel for the city. There’s a pall that’s been cast over the city. You can feel it. A lot of people are suffering, and obviously a loss of life is the number one concern. Those families will never get their family members back,” Kerr said.
Tens of thousands of people swarmed downtown Minneapolis on Friday in protest of the tactics and presence of immigration officers, a crowd the Warriors could see from their hotel as it moved toward Target Center. A smaller protest march took place downtown before the game Sunday.
There were plenty of other voices being raised around the sports world on Sunday. Women’s basketball star Breanna Stewart held a sign with “abolish ICE” printed on it during introductions at her Unrivaled league game. Minnesota Frost fans during a PWHL game chanted “Ice out now!” The NBA Players Association issued a statement in support of the protests in Minnesota and urged its members to speak up.
The perspectives in a polarized country vary wildly on what constitutes constitutionally protected protesting and what becomes violent political disruption, and Kerr seemed to sense that tension as he spoke before the game on Sunday.
“People are so angry. There should be an appeal to our better angels to look after one another and to recognize what’s happening. We’re being divided by media for profit, by misinformation. There’s so much out there that is really difficult for all of us to sort of reconcile,” Kerr said. “And so in times like these you have to lean on values and who you are and who you want to be, either as an individual or a country.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies signed an open letter posted on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce website on Sunday calling for state, local and federal officials to work together, as businesses grapple with how to address tensions in th…
“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” the open letter reads.
CEOs that signed the letter included 3M CEO William Brown, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening, Target incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke, UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Helmsley, and others.
Before the letter, most of the biggest Minnesota-based companies had not issued any public statements about the enforcement surge and unrest.
But the issue has become more difficult to avoid. Over the past two weeks protesters have targeted some businesses they see not taking a strong enough stand against federal law enforcement activity, including Minneapolis-based Target. Earlier in January a Minnesota hotel that wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there apologized and said the refusal violated its own policies after a furor online.
“In this difficult moment for our community, we call for peace and focused cooperation among local, state and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future,” the letter reads.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said the killing Saturday of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who protested President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, was a “real tragedy.” Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois.
“I think the death of Americans, what we’re seeing on TV, it’s causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability,” Stitt told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now.”
When asked if he thought the president should pull immigration agents from Minnesota, Stitt said Trump has to answer that question.
“He’s getting bad advice right now,” Stitt said.
The governor said the Republican president needed to tell the American people what the solution and “endgame” are, and that there needed to be solutions instead of politicizing the situation. “Right now, tempers are just going crazy and we need to calm this down,” Stitt said.
Other Republicans, including Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, also conveyed unease. In a social media post, Cassidy called the shooting “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” Tillis urged a “thorough and impartial investigation.”
“Any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy,” Tillis said in a post.
Administration officials were firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration tactics.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “it’s a tragedy when anyone dies” but he blamed Democratic leaders in Minnesota for “fomenting chaos.”
“There are a lot of paid agitators who are ginning things up and the governor has not done a good job of tamping this down,” Bessent said on ABC’s “This Week.”
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report
The parents of Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement in south Minneapolis Saturday morning, issued a statement calling their son “a good man” and decrying what they called “sickening lies told about our son by the administration.”
Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Renee Good, who was killed in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier in January, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a couple of traffic tickets.
“We are heartbroken but also very angry.
“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
“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.
“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”
While Minnesota officials called Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s claims that Pretti was engaged in domestic terrorism “nonsense” and “lies,” Pretti’s parents called the administration’s claims “reprehensible and disgusting.”
A federal judge in Minnesota has blocked the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to a deadly shooting involving a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis on Saturday.
The ruling came after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a lawsuit Saturday to prevent the destruction of evidence in the shooting death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration enforcement operation.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Pretti approached Border Patrol agents armed with a 9 mm pistol and “violently resisted” when they attempted to disarm him.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, names DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and U.S. Border Control, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, as defendants.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said state officials filed a lawsuit to prevent federal agencies from destroying evidence tied to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.(Reuters/Tim Evans)
The groups, represented by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, said the litigation is accompanied by a motion for a temporary restraining order that asks the court to immediately prevent the defendants from destroying any evidence related to the shooting.
In granting the temporary injunction, Judge Eric Tostrud wrote that federal officials and those acting on their behalf cannot destroy evidence taken from the scene of the south Minneapolis shooting or now in their exclusive custody, which state authorities say they were previously barred from inspecting.
Tostrud scheduled a hearing Monday to review the order.
“As I said earlier today, I will not rest, my team will not rest, until we have done everything in our power, everything within our authority, to achieve transparency and accountability,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “Our office has jurisdiction to review this matter for potential criminal conduct by the federal agents involved and we will do so.”
Moriarty added that the lawsuit is just one of the actions her office is taking “to ensure that a thorough and transparent investigation can be completed at the state level.”
This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti, the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Michael Pretti via AP)
In announcing the litigation, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asserted that “federal agents are not above the law and Alex Pretti is certainly not beneath it.”
“A full, impartial, and transparent investigation into his fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents is non-negotiable,” he said in a statement. “Minnesota law enforcement is currently carrying out such an investigation, and it is essential that the evidence collected by federal agents is preserved and turned over to state officials. Today’s lawsuit aims to bar the federal government from destroying or tampering with any of the evidence they have collected.”
Ellison added that “justice will be done.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department for comment.
In a separate statement, Ellison said he shares “intense grief and anger” that Pretti was shot and killed during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke on Fox News Live regarding the CBP-involved shooting in Minnesota on Saturday, Jan. 24.(Fox News Live)
He said his office will argue in court Monday to end “this illegal and unconstitutional occupation of our cities and the terror and violence it’s inflicting.”
The Department of Homeland Security said it is leading the investigation into the shooting.
Pretti was a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse. Though medics immediately delivered aid, Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 5-year-old immigrant boy taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement alongside his father in the Minneapolis area earlier this week has an active and pending case in immigration court and cannot be legally deported yet, according to government records reviewed by CBS News.
The ICE operation that led Liam Adrian Conejo Ramos and his father to be taken into government custody, captured on videos and photos that have gone viral, has garnered national attention and raised questions about who exactly the Trump administration is targeting in its mass deportation campaign.
Justice Department records reviewed by CBS News indicate Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, have immigration court cases listed as “pending.” The records by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review do not list any deportation orders in either case, indicating that an immigration judge still must consider Liam and his father’s claims before any deportation attempt. The information says the family’s immigration court case was docketed on Dec. 17, 2024.
CBS News was able to review the government information after obtaining the “alien” numbers issued to Liam and his father. Those “A numbers” are issued by the U.S. government to immigrants, illegal and legal alike, to internally track their deportation cases or immigration applications.
Liam and his father are now being held at the Dilley detention center in Texas, ICE’s long-term holding site for families with underage children, according to officials and the agency’s detainee tracking system.
Families at the Texas detention center held a protest there on Saturday, an attorney representing migrant children in federal immigration custody confirmed to CBS News. The attorney said the protest was peaceful in nature and involved some of the children holding signs.
Representatives for Liam and his father say the family is from Ecuador and that they entered the U.S. in 2024 to request asylum. The family’s lawyer said they were able to get an appointment to enter the U.S. at an official crossing site along the southern border, with the government’s permission, through a Biden administration system that relied on a phone app called CBP One.Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Friday the agency has “no record” of the family using CBP One.
The Trump administration shut down the CBP One process immediately after taking office, and converted it into a self-deportation app now known as CBP Home. It also revoked the legal protections the Biden administration offered those who entered under the program, targeting some of them for arrest and deportation, including during immigration court appointments in cities across the U.S.
The family’s lawyer has said Liam’s father does not appear to have a criminal record. DHS has called Liam’s father an “illegal alien” and accused him of attempting to flee ICE officers, abandoning his son in the process. McLaughlin, the DHS spokeswoman, said Liam’s father “committed a federal crime by evading arrest.”
And while immigrants with pending claims cannot be legally deported, immigration officials do have the authority to detain them, if they’re in the U.S. illegally or without a valid legal status, pending the adjudication of those cases.
Prokosh Law LLC, the law firm representing Liam and his father, did not provide further information when asked about the family’s immigration case.
“As their attorney of record, our primary concern at this time is Liam and Adrian’s safety, well-being, and the work that is involved in getting them released from detention,” the law firm told CBS News. “While we do the relevant work to secure their release, we are unable to provide further information to the press.”
Dueling narratives about the arrest
During a press conference in Minneapolis on Friday, Marcos Charles, the head of ICE’s deportation branch, said his officers targeted Liam’s father — not the child — during an arrest operation on Jan. 20. Charles said Liam was with his father inside a vehicle when ICE officers approached them.
Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, is detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after arriving home from preschool on Jan. 20, 2026, in a Minneapolis suburb.
Ali Daniels / AP
Charles said Liam’s father tried to escape on foot, “abandoning his child in the middle of winter in a vehicle.” He said an officer stayed with Liam, while others arrested his father. ICE officers “cared for” Liam and took him to a drive-through restaurant, Charles added.
ICE officers tried to get Liam’s family to take the child but the “people inside refused to take him in and open the door,” according to Charles. He noted his officers were “heartbroken” by the incident.
Sergio Amezcua, a pastor who said he’s spoken to Liam’s mother, noted she “was terrified” during the incident.
“ICE agents were trying to use the baby for her to come out of her house,” Amezcua said on CNN. “But the neighbors step[ped] up. Neighbors advised her not to do it.”
On Friday, Charles said families held by ICE get “top-notch care” at facilities like the Dilley center in Texas, calling their treatment “better than social services.”
“They have medical care. The food is good. They have learning services. They have church services available. They have recreation,” Charles said.
But advocates for immigrants have raised concerns about conditions at the Dilley facility. Neha Desai, an attorney at the California-based National Center for Youth Law, which represents migrant children in U.S. custody, said minors held at Dilley have experienced “a dramatic decline in their physical and mental health.”
“The current conditions at Dilley are fundamentally unsafe for anyone, let alone young children,” Desai said. “Since the re-opening of family detention, hundreds of families — including babies and toddlers — have been subjected to substandard medical care, degrading and harsh treatment and extremely prolonged times in custody.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday morning started frigid and quiet on Minneapolis’ “Eat Street,” a stretch of road south of downtown famous for its small coffee shops and restaurants ranging from New American to Vietnamese.
Within five hours, seemingly everything had changed. A protester was dead. Videos were circulating showing multiple federal agents on top of the man and gunshots being fired. Federal and local officials again were angrily divided over who was to blame.
And Eat Street was the scene of a series of clashes, federal officers and local and state police pulled back and protesters took over the area.
It all started around 9 a.m. when a federal immigration officer shot and killed a man there, about 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometers) from the scene of a Jan. 7 fatal shooting of a local woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer that sparked outrage and daily protests.
And in just over an hour, anger exploded again in the city already on edge. Even before the current immigration enforcement surge, networks of thousands of residents had organized to monitor and denounce it while national, state and local leaders traded blame over the rising tensions.
Two Associated Press journalists reached the scene minutes after Saturday’s shooting. They saw dozens of protesters quickly converging and confronting the federal agents, many blowing the whistles activists use to alert to the presence of federal officers.
They had been covering protests for days, including a massive one Friday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, but the anger and sorrow among Saturday’s crowd felt more urgent and intense.
The crowd, rapidly swelling into the hundreds, screamed insults and obscenities at the agents, some of whom shouted back mockingly. Then for several hours, the two groups clashed as tear gas billowed in the subzero air.
Over and over, officers pushed back the protesters from improvised barricades with the aid of flash bang grenades and pepper balls, only for the protesters to regroup and regain their ground. Some five hours after the shooting, after one more big push down the street, enforcement officers left in a convoy.
By mid-afternoon, protesters had taken over the intersection next to the shooting scene and cordoned it off with discarded yellow tape from the police. Some stood on large metal dumpsters that blocked all traffic, banging on them, while others gave speeches at the impromptu and growing memorial for 37-year-old Alex Pretti, the man killed Saturday morning.
People brought tree branches in a circle to cordon off the area while others put flowers and candles at the memorial by a snow bank.
Many carried handwritten signs demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave Minnesota immediately, using the expletives against ICE that have been plastered all over the Twin Cities for more than weeks.
The mood in the crowd was widespread anger and sadness — recalling the same outpour of wrath that shook the city for weeks after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, although without the widespread rioting that had occurred then.
Law enforcement was not visibly present in the blocks immediately around the shooting scene, although multiple agencies had mobilized and the National Guard announced it would also help provide security there.
At an afternoon news conference Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara said his officers as well as members of the Minnesota National Guard in yellow safety traffic vests were working to keep the area around the shooting safe and avoid traffic interfering with “lawful, peaceful demonstrations.” No traffic except for residents was allowed in a 6-by-7 block area around the scene.
Stores, sports and cultural institutions shuttered Saturday afternoon citing safety. Some stayed open to give a break to the protesters from the dangerous cold, providing water, coffee, snacks and hand warmer packets.
After evening fell, a somber, sorrowful crowd in the hundreds kept a vigil by the memorial.
“It feels like every day something crazier happens,” said Caleb Spike. “What comes next? I don’t know what the solution is.”
Videos quickly emerged Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent, with Democratic leaders in Minnesota saying the footage showed the deadly encounter was the result of untrained federal officers overreacting and the Trump administration saying the man provoked the violence.
It was the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis by federal immigration authorities this month. The first, on Jan. 7, involved Renee Good. It also was captured on videos and produced a similar schism among political leaders.
On Saturday, at around 9 a.m., a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle. The Trump administration said shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti, who federal authorities said had a semiautomatic handgun and was “violently” resisting officers.
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’s 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’s 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 cannisters.
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 backwards.
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 cannister 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.
An officer who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back in one video backs away from the group just before the first shot. In the video provided to The AP, the same officer is moving away with what appears to be a gun in his right hand.
After about 20 seconds, the first shot is fired.
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.
President Donald Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out Walz and Frey. Trump shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered from Pretti and said “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hours after ICE agents in Minneapolis shot and killed its second protester this month, hundreds of New Yorkers took to the streets of Lower Manhattan amid arctic temperatures on Saturday to demand an end to the federal agency’s escalating operations.
The impromptu march that the organization Hands Off and the New York Immigration Coalition called on Jan. 24 was sparked by several gruesome viral videos that showed multiple masked federal agents in Minneapolis shooting protester Alex Pretti multiple times. Pretti, an ICU nurse, had come to the aid of a woman whom agents knocked down before ICE members turned their attention to him — wrestling him to the ground and pummeling him with their fists.
One of the agents then grabbed what appeared to be a holster with a gun from Pretti’s waist; multiple reports indicated that he had a license to carry the weapon in Minnesota. After the gun was taken, multiple ICE agents fired shots at Pretti, killing him.
However, the released videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a firearm; instead, the weapon appears to be concealed in his waistband. Local police say Pretti has no criminal history aside from traffic violations and did have a permit for the weapon, as required by state law.
“As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE,” Mamdani wrote on X.
In the hours following the second fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by ICE agents, hundreds of New Yorkers rallied in Lower Manhattan to call for an immediate end to federal occupation of American cities.Photo by Dean MosesProtesters, including priests, stood up against ICE.Photo by Dean MosesIn the hours following the second fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by ICE agents, hundreds of New Yorkers rallied in Lower Manhattan to call for an immediate end to federal occupation of American cities.Photo by Dean Moses
“We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.DHS just shot a man in broad daylight two weeks after they shot a mother in the face without consequence. They need our votes to continue. We cannot give it to them. Every Senator should vote NO,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Immigration rights advocates, like the Immigration Coalition and Hands Off NYC, called an emergency protest in Union Square on Saturday to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis and to demand that ICE be withdrawn from the state and that operations in New York cease.
“This is not normal — no one should be killed for protecting their neighbors. No one should be killed for standing up to masked agents who are abducting people off the streets. ICE’s killing of another Minneapolis observer makes it clear: when masked, armed agents are unleashed on communities with no accountability, people die,” a statement released by Hands Off NYC read.
Protesters gathered in Union Square with signs and whistles, marched up 5th Avenue, and culminated the demonstration in Madison Square Park.
Protesters wear face masks and googles like those in Minneapolis.Photo by Dean MosesIn the hours following the second fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by ICE agents, hundreds of New Yorkers rallied in Lower Manhattan to call for an immediate end to federal occupation of American cities.Photo by Dean MosesNew Yorkers raised their fists and chanted.Photo by Dean MosesMany yelled to abolish ICE.Photo by Dean MosesNew Yorkers raised their fists and chanted.Photo by Dean MosesThe march went along 5th Avenue.Photo by Dean Moses
