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Tag: Minnesota

  • Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tells Trump:

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke to the press Sunday afternoon, one day after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents in south Minneapolis — the third shooting this month amid Operation Metro Surge, and the second fatality carried out by federal immigration enforcement forces.

    “What’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan?” Walz said. “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation. We are tired, but we’re resolved. We’re peaceful, but we’ll never forget. We’re angry, but we won’t give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified.”

    Walz said if President Trump’s intention was to “make an example of Minnesota,” it backfired.

    “We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace, and we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person, and we’re up here telling another story of a Minnesotan just trying to live their life without the interference,” Walz said. “To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn or sympathy. I’ve got a question for all of you. What side do you wanna be on?”

    Full transcripts of Gov. Walz’s opening and closing statements

    Opening statement

    I had the privilege of talking with Michael and Susan, Alex’s parents, yesterday and the heartache in the hours after your son’s murdered in front of the world is one thing, but what stood out to me was a parent’s desire and their passion to make sure that the story of Alex was told.

    Someone who went to work to care for veterans, someone who was a valued co-worker, someone who relished and lived in this state in a big way whether it was outdoor activities or being down there on the street as a First Amendment witness to what ICE is doing to this, to this state.

    So, once again to Michael and Susan, when I talk to these parents, it’s always in deep confidential conversation. In this one, though, Michael was very clear to me. He said, “Don’t let them forget Alex’s story.”

    The world knows how he died. He died at the hands of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis. They want us to make sure we said how he lived. So to Michael and Susan, our deepest sympathies, but you have my commitment to continue to tell that story.

    So now we’ve got two Minnesotans dead, we didn’t have time to start telling [Renee Good‘s] story of a poet and a mother and a bright spirit, and now we’re telling Alex’s story.

    So my question is, what’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan? What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation.

    We are tired, but we’re resolved. We’re peaceful, but we’ll never forget. We’re angry, but we won’t give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified. If it was the intention of Donald Trump to make an example of Minnesota, then I’m damn proud of the example that the world’s seeing.

    We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace, and we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person, and we’re up here telling another story of a Minnesotan just trying to live their life without the interference.

    To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn or sympathy. I’ve got a question for all of you: What side do you wanna be on?

    The side of an all powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets? On the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such a government? Or the side of a mother whose last words were, “I’m not mad at you”?

    The sight of tens of thousands of peaceful citizens who showed up to march when the wind chill was 40 below because they love this state and they love this country.

    You’re allowed to decide at any point that you’re not with us anymore. If you voted for this administration, heck, even if you thought Operation Metro Surge was a good idea, sounded like the thing to do a month ago, you’re still allowed to look at what’s happening here in Minnesota and say, “This isn’t what I voted for and this isn’t what I want.”

    I ask you not to stand by idly. Speak out, share what you’re seeing to others and urge others to put politics aside. We’re no longer having a political debate. We’re having a moral debate.

    We all want secure borders and immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminals, and I want to thank the press, especially the local press, who has done a deep dive to show that’s exactly what Minnesota does.

    But what you’re seeing is not common sense, lawful or humane enforcement. That’s not what this occupation is about.

    Let me say our conversation should not be about, and I know we get asked of what we’re doing out there, how many state patrol or police or national guard I can put on the street. This isn’t about how many people I can put on the street, it’s about how many of these people, these ICE agents and whoever else was thrown into this unholy mess, how many Donald Trump can get out of here?

    Minnesotans, you’ve won the hearts and minds of people across this country, and you’ve done it through your peaceful, resolved defense of your neighbors and the Constitution. 

    So once again Minnesotans, stay peaceful, stay safe. Change is coming and we can feel it. But this fight still goes on.

    Closing statement

    I’m going to close with one thing that I promised the parents, with Michael and Susan, and I speak to all Americans on this over these last 24 hours, what you saw, you’re now knowing more about this young man, beloved by his family, accomplished ICU nurse, skillful ability to work with veterans, someone who is beloved by community, no criminal record, lawful firearms owner.

    And you know what you saw, and then you heard the most powerful people in the world, certainly in this country — the president, vice president, Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem — narrate to you what you were looking at that this was a domestic terrorist, crazed, running at law enforcement with the intent to kill massive numbers of them, sullying his name within minutes of this event happening. And then closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it.

    I don’t care if you are conservative and you are flying a Donald Trump flag, you’re a libertarian, don’t tread on me, you’re a Democratic Socialist of America. This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don’t know what else to tell you.

    This has to be the moment.

    Your government here in Minnesota, I’ve made it clear I’m accountable for things that happen here, and I will take responsibility for that. Someone has to be accountable. Someone has to hold the final decision on this. And sitting behind a keyboard at 2 a.m. and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a co-worker and a friend is despicable beyond all description.

    This is not “we need to see both sides.” This is not “we need to wait for this.” This is basic human decency. And at this point in time, I’m just asking try, for a moment, to set aside the political side of it and go back and ground in the humanity of this. This family has gone through enough, and to have the most powerful man in the world drag their dead son with absolutely no evidence and gaslight the entire country? This is enough.

    And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control. You’ve got the support of all of us to do that, let our law enforcement continue to do what they do, making Minnesota one of the safest states in the country, one of the best places to live. Allow our children to go back to school. We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside.

    Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota. And there’s one person who can end this now.

    And I’ll go back to it again. Please show some decency, pull these folks out, reset this situation and allow us to do the job that the attorney general and myself were elected to do: protect the people of Minnesota and carry out the laws of Minnesota.

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  • Federal officials double down on Border Patrol actions in deadly Minneapolis shooting

    Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino continued to defend the actions of federal agents during a news conference on Sunday in the deadly shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis on Saturday. CBS News’ Lilia Luciano and Nicole Sganga have more.

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  • Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says


    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says “this is an inflection point” after fatal shooting of Alex Pretti – CBS News









































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    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison gave an update on Sunday in the aftermath of Border Patrol’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

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  • Explainer-Can ICE Agents Be Prosecuted for Minneapolis Shootings?

    By Jack Queen, Jan Wolfe and Blake Brittain

    Jan 25 (Reuters) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ‌agents ​shot and killed two U.S. citizens in separate enforcement ‌actions in Minneapolis this month as part of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.

    Local officials have disputed administration officials’ claims ​that the shootings were acts of self-defense, citing bystander video that appears to contradict the government’s accounts.

    Here is a look at the potential legal repercussions for the officers.

    An ICE ‍officer shot 37-year-old Renee Good in her car ​on January 7. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer had fired “defensive shots” after Good attempted to run him over, though online videos of the shooting verified by ​Reuters cast doubt on ⁠the government’s narrative.

    ICE agents shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in a separate incident on January 24. DHS said Pretti approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him, though bystander videos verified by Reuters show Pretti – whom Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said carried a handgun lawfully – holding a phone as he tries to help protesters whom agents pushed to the ground.

    Minnesota’s use-of-force law permits state police to use deadly force only if reasonable officers would believe ‌doing so was necessary to protect themselves, or others, from death or serious harm.

    Federal law has a similar standard, permitting use of deadly force when ​a ‌reasonable officer would have probable cause ‍to believe a person posed an ⁠immediate threat of death or serious injury.

    COULD THE OFFICERS BE PROSECUTED?

    Federal agents are generally immune from state prosecution for actions taken as part of their official duties. Immunity only applies when an officer’s actions were authorized under federal law and were necessary and proper.

    If Minnesota charged the agents, they could seek to move the case to federal court and argue they are immune from prosecution. To prevail, the state would have to show their actions were outside of their official duties or were objectively unreasonable or clearly unlawful. If a judge ruled an officer was immune, the case would be dismissed and the state would not be able to charge him again.

    COULD FEDERAL PROSECUTORS CHARGE THE OFFICERS?

    Federal prosecutors can charge law ​enforcement officers for fatal shootings, but the bar is very high and charges are rare. Prosecutors would need to show an officer knew his conduct was unlawful or acted with reckless disregard for the constitutional limits of his authority, which is difficult to prove in court. The Trump administration has so far defended the officers’ actions.

    WHAT DEFENSES WOULD THE ICE AGENTS HAVE?

    In addition to federal immunity, the agents could argue that their actions were reasonable under the Constitution, that they acted in self-defense or that they did not act with intent to harm or kill the victims.

    COULD THE VICTIMS’ FAMILIES SUE FOR CIVIL DAMAGES?

    Federal officers are immune from civil lawsuits unless their conduct clearly violated a clearly established constitutional right. This legal standard, known as qualified immunity, has become a highly effective tool for shielding police officers accused of using excessive force, a series of Reuters investigative stories found in 2020.

    However, victims can also sue the federal government for compensation when its employees cause financial or bodily injury in the course of ​their work. This is covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, an exception to a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity that usually shields the federal government from lawsuits.

    In an FTCA case, a plaintiff typically alleges a government employee acted negligently or wrongfully. The statute would allow family members of someone killed by ICE to seek compensation for wrongful death.

    But while the FTCA opens a rare avenue for a lawsuit against the federal ​government, these claims face limits and obstacles, and legal experts generally consider the law a weak mechanism for addressing government officials’ misconduct.

    (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Deepa Babington)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Federal Officials Dig in on Minneapolis Shooting Narrative Despite Video Evidence

    By Brad Brooks and Tim Reid

    MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Senior Trump administration officials on Sunday defended the fatal shooting of a U.S. ‌citizen ​by immigration agents in Minneapolis even as video evidence contradicted their version ‌of events and tensions grew between local law enforcement and federal officers.

    As residents visited a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in frigid temperatures and snow to mark ​Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti — the second shooting death by federal officers in Minneapolis this month — the Trump administration argued that Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defense.

    Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union”, could not offer evidence ‍that Pretti was trying to impede a law enforcement operation, but ​focused on the fact that the ICU nurse was carrying a gun, which he had a license to carry.

    “The victims are border patrol agents,” Bovino said. “Law enforcement doesn’t assault anyone.”

    Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Pretti of assaulting the agents, rioting and ​obstructing them. 

    “We do know that ⁠he came to that scene and impeded a law enforcement operation, which is against federal law,” Noem told Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing” program. “It’s a felony. When he did that, interacting with those agents, when they tried to get him to disengage, he became aggressive and resisted them.” 

    That official line, echoed by other Trump officials on Sunday, triggered outrage from local law enforcement, many in Minneapolis and Democrats on Capitol Hill, because of bystander videos that appear to show a different version of events.

    HOLDING A PHONE, NOT A GUN

    Videos from the scene verified and reviewed by Reuters showed Pretti, 37, holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who have ‌been pushed to the ground by agents.

    As the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and ​the ‌women, then raises his left arm to shield himself ‍as the agent pepper sprays him.

    Several agents then take ⁠hold of Pretti — who struggles with them — and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin down Pretti, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun.

    Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.

    Moments later, an officer with a handgun pointed at Pretti’s back and fired four shots at him in quick succession. Several more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.

    Darius Reeves, the former head of ICE’s field office in Baltimore, told Reuters that federal agents’ apparent lack of communication is troubling. “It’s clear no one is communicating to me, based on my observation of how that team responded,” Reeves said. 

    One of the officers appeared to have taken possession of Pretti’s weapon before he was killed, Reeves said. “The proof to me is how everyone scatters,” he said. “They’re looking around, trying to figure out where the shots came from.” 

    ‘VIDEOS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES’ 

    Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, told CBS’ “Face ​the Nation” that “the videos speak for themselves,” adding the Trump administration version of events was “deeply disturbing.” He said he had seen no evidence that Pretti brandished a gun.

    Tensions in the city were already running high after a federal agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Renee Good on Jan 7. Trump officials claim she was trying to ram the agent with her car, but other observers have argued that bystander video suggests she was trying to steer away from the officer who shot her.

    Federal authorities have refused to allow local officials to participate in their investigation of the incident.

    U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, told ABC News’ “This Week” that Trump’s surge of federal agents into Minneapolis was “completely out of control and out of balance,” and that they should leave Minnesota. She described the shooting of Pretti as “simply horrific”.

    The deaths of Good and Pretti have sparked large protests in the Democrat-run city, although on Sunday morning the area where Pretti was shot was calm.

    A woman wearing nursing scrubs ventured out in Sunday’s frigid temperatures to pay homage to Pretti, who she said worked with her. When asked what brought her out, the woman began to sob.

    “He was caring and he was kind. None of this makes any sense,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified by name, saying she feared retribution from the federal government. 

    In addition to large protests in Minneapolis since Good’s death, there have been rallies in other cities led by Democratic politicians, including Los Angeles ​and Washington, D.C., since Trump began sending immigration agents and National Guard troops to those communities last year.

    Trump has defended the operations as necessary to reduce crime and enforce immigration laws.

    Pretti’s shooting triggered legal filings on Saturday night from state and local officials, as well as others.

    A U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting federal officials from destroying or altering evidence related to the shooting in response to a lawsuit filed by Minnesota’s attorney general, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. A full hearing is set for Monday.

    Lawyers representing protesters in Minnesota also asked an appeals court to reinstate a ​lower court’s order that prevented violent retaliation by federal agents against protesters, citing Pretti’s death and the likelihood of a surge of people taking to the streets.

    (Reporting by Brad Brooks, Tim Reid, Tom Polansek, Brad Heath and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Tim Reid; Editing by Sergio Non and Nick Zieminski)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says “people have had enough” after Border Patrol shooting


    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says “people have had enough” after Border Patrol shooting – CBS News









































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    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS News “this is not sustainable” after a fatal shooting by a Border Patrol agent amid a weekslong immigation crackdown in the city.

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  • Read the full text of Alex Pretti’s parents’ statement following his fatal shooting by Border Patrol forces

    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 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital and a U.S. citizen. An online fundraiser set up to help members of Alex Pretti’s family had already raised more than $230,000 by late Saturday night. 

    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.”

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  • Judge blocks Trump admin from ‘destroying or altering’ evidence in deadly Minneapolis shooting

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    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.

    TRUMP CITES ARMED SUSPECT, LACK OF POLICE SUPPORT FOLLOWING FATAL BORDER PATROL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS

    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.”

    READ IT: BONDI SENDS WARNING LETTER TO GOV WALZ WARNING MINNESOTA’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES ENDANGER AGENTS

    Alex J. Pretti in cycling gear

    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.

    APPEALS COURT HANDS TRUMP ADMIN ‘VICTORY’ IN MINNESOTA ICE FORCE RESTRICTIONS CASE

    Pam Bondi looking off the screen

    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.

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    Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

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  • Videos and witness accounts of deadly Minneapolis shooting at odds with official statements

    Videos quickly emerged Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent. 

    Bystander videos verified by CBS News show the scene from multiple angles, starting shortly before the encounter that ended in the shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an American citizen who worked as an ICU nurse.

    The events unfolded at around 9 a.m. Saturday. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said officers were pursuing a man in the country illegally who was wanted for domestic assault. Protesters have been trying to disrupt such operations amid an ongoing federal immigration crackdown, and a group of people in the area sounded high-pitched whistles, honked horns and yelled out at the officers.

    Among them was Pretti. At one point, video shows Pretti standing in the street and holding up his phone with his right hand; his left hand appears empty. 

    A screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters shows a man identified as Alex Pretti using a cellphone to record video moments before he was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026. 

    VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS


    He comes 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 is not clear what he is saying.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later said Pretti “approached” officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, but did not say whether he “brandished” the weapon. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

    Videos filmed before the shooting show Pretti did not have a gun in his hands.

    Protesters can be seen 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 canisters.

    Pretti comes into view 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 backward.

    A different video then shows Pretti moving toward another protester, who falls over after being shoved by the same officer. 

    Law enforcement officers and protesters before the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis

    A screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters shows a law enforcement officer spraying irritants at a man identified as Alex Pretti, before he was fatally shot in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026. 

    VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS


    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 canister 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.

    Federal officers at scene of shooting in Minneapolis

    A screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters shows a federal officer pinning down a man, identified as Alex Pretti, before he was fatally shot in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026. 

    VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS


    Videos show an officer in a gray jacket, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, reaching into the scuffle empty-handed and then backing away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand.

    Someone shouts “gun, gun.” It is not clear if that’s a reference to the weapon authorities say Pretti had.

    The agent is holding that gun and turning away from the man when the first shot is fired. Videos show the agent in the gray jacket then running across the street as numerous shots can be heard. 

    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.

    At a briefing Saturday afternoon, Noem shared an image of the gun she said was recovered. She said officers attempted to disarm the man but he “reacted violently,” and “fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots.”

    Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shows a picture of a firearm she said was carried by the man who was killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026.

    Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP


    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.”

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said, “I’ve seen the videos, from several angles, and it’s sickening.”

    Sworn statements from witnesses

    Sworn declarations submitted in federal court Saturday night by people who said they witnessed the shooting contradict key points of the events presented by federal officials.

    One witness described seeing Pretti observing and filming the scene “just with his camera out. I didn’t see him reach for or hold a gun.” 

    An agent “shoved one of the other observers to the ground” and then pepper sprayed several people, the witness said. “The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.”

    The witness continued: “The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.”

    Another witness, a pediatrician, described watching out their apartment window and seeing “one civilian … yelling at the ICE agents, but I did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind.”

    Suddenly, the witness said, an agent “shoved him to the ground. My view of the altercation was partially obstructed, but after a few seconds, I saw at least four agents point guns at the man. Then I saw the agents shoot the man six or seven times.”

    “Initially I was stunned,” the witness continued. “From what I could see from my apartment, there was absolutely no need for any violence, let alone lethal force by multiple officers.”

    The witness then described rushing down to the scene, telling officers they were a doctor and performing CPR until an EMS crew arrived. The man had at least four bullet wounds and no pulse, the witness said.

    Camilo Montoya-Galvez and

    Layla Ferris

    contributed to this report.

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  • Quiet candlelight vigils honoring Alex Pretti light street corners across Twin Cities


    People in neighborhoods around the Twin Cities gathered on sidewalks, in parks and on street corners Saturday night to mark the death of another person killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.

    Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA hospital, was identified as the man killed by a Border Patrol agent on the south side of the city Saturday morning. The Department of Homeland Security said the agent acted in self-defense after attempting to disarm Pretti, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that account was “nonsense” after reviewing videos of the shooting.

    Saturday’s incident happened less than three weeks after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good and amid an ongoing surge in immigration enforcement action across the city.

    Neighbors, many with small candles nestled in their hands, gathered near Summit Avenue and Lexington Parkway in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    A person holds a candle in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.

    WCCO


    img-9224.jpg

    Several people hold up candles during a vigil in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.

    WCCO


    img-9223.jpg

    People gather with candles in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.

    WCCO


    Other people gathered quietly in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis and near Lake Nokomis, as well.

    img-20260124-193442.jpg

    People gather at a vigil near Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.

    WCCO


    A group that organized a march and rally against ICE on Friday spread the word on social media, asking people to go to their sidewalks with lighted candles.

    Pretti’s family said in a statement that Pretti 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.”   

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  • 5-year-old taken into custody by ICE has active immigration case, preventing deportation for now

    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.”

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  • Latest details after another Minneapolis resident killed by federal agents


    Latest details after another Minneapolis resident killed by federal agents – CBS News









































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    CBS News Minnesota reports on what we know after federal agents shot and killed another person in south Minneapolis Saturday morning.

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  • Latest deadly shooting by federal agents pushes government closer to shutdown as Trump claims Minnesota officials are ‘inciting insurrection’ | Fortune

    Another deadly shooting in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown heaped pressure on Senate Democrats to shut down the federal government again.

    Meanwhile, Trump appeared to inch closer to deploying active-duty troops to the state after accusing local officials of “inciting insurrection.”

    A series of appropriations bills passed the House of Representatives earlier in the week, including one to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

    The Senate must pass those bills in a so-called minibus or else the government will run out of funding on Friday. That’s after lawmakers agreed to end the previous shutdown in November with short-term funding.

    The shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month had already prompted Democrats to seek reforms from DHS in exchange for votes on funding.

    Another non-fatal shooting by immigration officers followed, but the latest death on Saturday stirred fresh demands from House Democrats that counterparts in the Senate must reject DHS funding.

    “Senate Dems should block ICE funding this week. Activate the National Guard. We can and must stop this,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on social media.

    So far, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as Minnesota’s two Democratic senators have called on ICE to get out of the state without saying anything about the appropriations bill.

    But Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees the DHS budget, reiterated his earlier push to linking reforms and funding.

    “1. ICE must leave Minneapolis. 2. Congress should not fund this version of ICE – that is seeking confirmation, chaos and dystopia,” he posted.

    Murphy added later: “The Senate should not vote to keep funding this rampage. We are not powerless. We do not need to accept this.”

    Other Democrats, including senators Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, Brian Schatz, Mark Kelly, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Jacky Rosen have also signaled they will block DHS funding.

    The shooting also followed days of reports about immigration officers in Minnesota detaining young children, arresting U.S. citizens, and forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants.

    But on Saturday, Trump blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for demanding that immigration agents leave the city.

    “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” he wrote.

    That suggests Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to Minnesota. Last week, two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska and specializes in arctic operations, were given prepare-to-deploy orders.

    If he does that, the political fight over his immigration policies would likely escalate from a budgetary standoff to a constitutional battle.

    Earlier this month, Trump said he would invoke the 1807 law “if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.”

    A day later, he told reporters there wasn’t a reason to use it “right now,” but added “If I needed it, I’d use it.”

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  • Man fatally shot by federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

    Family members say the man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

    The Associated Press reported that the man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good, who was shot behind the wheel of her SUV by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.

    “He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He felt that doing the protesting was a way to express that, you know, his care for others.”

    Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, 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.

    In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Wisconsin, told him to be careful when protesting.

    “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

    The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was shot after he “approached” U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun, and it is not visible in bystander video of the shooting obtained and verified by CBS News, The AP and other outlets.

    Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it. 

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara also said police believed he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. 

    The shooting came one day after tens of thousands of people marched through downtown Minneapolis to protest ICE’s presence in the city. 

    The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

    “I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions?”

    Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

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  • Minneapolis man says he can’t believe federal agents shot man “in cold blood”


    Minneapolis man says he can’t believe federal agents shot man “in cold blood” – CBS News









































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    A Minneapolis man told CBS News Minnesota’s Frankie McLister that he couldn’t believe federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old man “in cold blood.” “Today this could’ve just as easily been me that got shot,” he said.

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  • Man Is Shot And Killed During Minneapolis Immigration Crackdown, National Guard Activated – KXL

    FILE – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the media, Nov. 9, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal immigration officers have shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed Saturday but declined to identify him.

    He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited.

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them.

    O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

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  • Another person was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Here’s what to know.

    A man is dead after a shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday involving federal immigration agents from Customs and Border Protection, officials said.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news briefing that the man was 37-year-old American citizen who lived in Minneapolis.

    Two Department of Homeland Security officials told CBS News that the man had a firearm and two magazines. 

    O’Hara said police believe he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. He did not identify the man but said his only previous interaction with law enforcement was traffic violations.  

    DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that officers were conducting a “targeted operation against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault” when “an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.” McLaughlin said the officers attempted to disarm the subject but the person “violently resisted.” McLaughlin said an agent fired “defensive shots” because he feared “for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers.” 

    First aid was rendered, but the man died, officials said. McLaughlin said he was pronounced dead at the scene, while O’Hara said he was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

    McLaughlin said the person had no identification and said it looked “like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

    Video footage verified by CBS News shows an altercation between several officers and a person on the ground before shots are heard. 

    O’Hara said that Minneapolis police have not been provided with “any public safety statement around the incident, what happened,” by federal agents. 

    “We do not know what happened prior to the recording,” O’Hara said. The police chief said the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state’s criminal investigative bureau, were on the scene.

    The Minneapolis Police Department said the shooting took place near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street. Police urged people to avoid the area. Video footage from CBS Minnesota station WCCO showed standoffs between protesters and federal officers. Airborne chemical irritants were being discharged, and whistling and shouting were audible on the video. Protesters were also seen setting up barricades of trash cans. One person told the station they wanted to keep ICE out of their community.

    Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly. McLaughlin referred to protesters as “rioters.” 

    During his remarks, O’Hara called for calm. 

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who also spoke at the news conference with O’Hara, called for an end to the federal operation in Minnesota. 

    “I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” said Frey. “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? How many times must local and national leaders must plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city?”

    Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino was expected to hold a separate news conference shortly. 

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said earlier that he had spoken to the White House about the shooting. 

    “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation,” Walz said on social media. “Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota.”  

    This is the second time a person has been shot and killed by immigration officials in the city this month. Renee Good was shot and killed behind the wheel of her SUV earlier in January by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross. 

    Pat Milton

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  • Man shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown

    A man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

    By The Associated Press undefined

    A federal officer fatally shot a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He called on President Donald Trump to end the crackdown in his state. The Minnesota National Guard, which had been activated earlier by Walz, was assisting local police amid growing protests.

     

    A federal immigration officer fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

    The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

    There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

    The Latest:

    Family: ‘heartbroken but also very angry’

    Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

    “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,” the statement said.

    “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

    Gun rights group ‘deeply concerned’ about shooting

    While noting that “many critical facts remain unknown,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement that “there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers” and called for an investigation by both state and federal authorities.

    “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the group said. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

    Federal officials have said Pretti was armed and officers fired defensively after he approached them during an operation and resisted attempts to disarm him. However bystander videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon.

    The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

    Another evening rally at a park near the scene of Saturday’s shooting

    People chanted “say his name” in memory of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot earlier in the day by a federal agent.

    One speaker called for sit-ins at congressional offices to urge a halt to funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another participant said he believes the tide of public opinion is turning in the protesters’ favor.

    Some carried lit candles, and all were bundled up against the frigid nighttime cold.

    After about an hour they went to the scene of the shooting. There were chants of “Resisting ICE is not a crime” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”

    There were also chants honoring Renee Good, another person who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

    Republican chair of House Homeland Security Committee requests ICE, CBP, USCIS appear before Congress

    Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to the department requesting three top officials appear for questioning before the committee.

    “As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a statement. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

    Garbarino requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement senior official Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow appear.

    The public hearing would take place sometime in the next two months. Garbarino previously requested that senior DHS officials appear before the committee in a Jan. 15 letter.

    Schumer: Democrats will block spending bill if it includes Homeland Security funding

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security.

    Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out. Several Democrats said Saturday that they will not vote for the bipartisan package of bills, which will need some Democratic votes to pass.

    Democrats say the legislation, which includes money for a broad swath of government agencies, does not include enough restrictions on ICE.

    Schumer said what is happening in Minnesota is “appalling.”

    “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said. “I will vote no.”

    Justice Department official says Minnesota leaders ‘created this escalation’

    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the shooting an “avoidable tragedy” that is the “result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials who have resisted federal law enforcement and created this escalation.”

    Blanche said in a statement that the Justice Department will “continue to hold those breaking federal law accountable, including those who harass and violently attack law enforcement in the name of protest.”

    The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The DOJ has not yet indicated whether it would open a civil rights investigation but declined to do so after the earlier shooting, of Renee Good.

    That was a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

    Dozens of people pay their respects to protester killed by federal agent

    They lit candles, placed flowers and stood in silence at the vigil Saturday evening. As dark fell, hundreds of people gathered somberly and quietly by the growing memorial at the shooting scene.

    Caleb Spike came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”

    A nearby doughnut shop and clothing store stayed open to offer a place for people to warm up, as well as water, coffee and snacks.

    Democratic senators come out against funding DHS, raising risk of another shutdown

    Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Saturday that she too would not vote for legislation in the Senate that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

    In doing so, Cortez Masto joined fellow Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. The two moderates broke with their party last year on a vote over the last government shutdown.

    Others like Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii have said in the wake of the shooting that they would oppose a DHS funding bill that is part of a spending package in the Senate that aims to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Minnesota-born Defense Secretary Hegseth says ICE is greater than Minnesota

    Pete Hegseth posted on the social platform X to thank God for the “patriots” who work for ICE and said, “we have your back 100%.”

    The Pentagon chief added: “Shame on the leadership of Minnesota — and the lunatics in the street. ICE MN.”

    Hegseth was born and raised in Minnesota.

    Nevada Sen. Rosen says she will vote against any government funding package that funds ICE

    Sen. Jacky Rosen, a moderate Democrat from a political swing state, made the announcement Saturday after the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Rosen was one of eight Democratic senators last year to break ranks with her party and vote with Republicans to move to reopen the government.

    “The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Rosen said via the social platform X.

    “Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE’s out of control conduct,” Rosen said.

    A bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security is part of a package of spending bills that is moving through the Senate to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Top Democrat on House Homeland Security Committee calls for Noem impeachment

    Congressman Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached and denounced statements from the administration about the man DHS agents killed.

    “Apparently, the Trump administration and its secret police only support the First and Second Amendments when it’s convenient to them,” Thompson said in a statement.

    Thompson called on Democrats in the U.S. Senate to vote against a funding bill for DHS that passed the lower chamber last week. “This is un-American and has to stop,” Thompson said. “The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem.”

    Walz excoriates immigration operations in Minnesota

    Walz issued a statement Saturday calling immigration enforcement “organized brutality.”

    “The federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed yet another life,” Walz said.

    He said the state, and not the federal government, will lead the investigation into the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

    Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers amid an immigration operation.

    “Minnesotans and our local law enforcement have done everything we can to deescalate. The federal government must deescalate. I once again call on the President to remove the 3,000 agents from Minnesota who are sowing chaos and violence.”

    Congressional Democrats sharply criticize DHS chief Kristi Noem

    Congressional Democrats responded with immediate outrage to the killing of another person by federal agents in Minneapolis.

    Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called for ICE to be “abolished” and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached.

    “Trump has created a militarized police force accountable only to him and ready to murder people in our streets. These agents need to leave our cities NOW,” the California Democrat wrote on social media.

    Congressman Brad Schneider, chair of the moderate New Democratic Coalition in the U.S. House, called for an investigation into the shooting and for federal agents to leave Minnesota.

    “Every agent involved in this shooting must be suspended pending a full and independent investigation and ultimately held to account for their actions today,” Schneider said in a statement. “And, Kristi Noem has got to go. She needs to resign or be fired. If not, Congress must act,” the Illinois Democrat continued.

    Man identified who was shot and killed amid Minneapolis immigration operation

    The man who was shot and killed by a federal officer during an immigration operation has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti. His parents told The Associated Press that Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse.

    Vance criticizes local authorities for refusing to cooperate with ICE agents

    Vice President JD Vance responded to the shooting in a post on X and said that when he visited Minneapolis this week, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand.”

    He accused local officials in Minnesota of ignoring requests from ICE agents to work with them.

    Notably, federal officials refused to cooperate with local officials on an investigation into the shooting death of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

    Store owner opens to help protesters amid freezing temperatures

    Allison Bross opened her fashion store, b. Resale, next to the shooting scene for the protesters to grab food, water, use the restroom, receive medical attention and get a warm break from the frigid temperatures outside.

    “We’re a community-based business, we don’t exist without the community,” she said. “So if we hear someone in our neighborhood is getting hurt, I’m going to be here immediately.”

    Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial at a bus stop next to the site of the shooting was taking shape. People left flowers and lit candles.

    Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office asks for National Guard help

    Sheriff Dawanna Witt has requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to support deputies at the Whipple Federal Building so that deputies can be assigned to other areas.

    The Minnesota National Guard’s role is to work in support of local law enforcement and emergency responders, providing additional resources, the sheriff’s office said.

    Their presence is meant to help create a secure environment where all Minnesotans can exercise their rights safely, including the right to peacefully protest.

    “We know this moment is challenging for our community. Remember that our local teams are also part of this community. We respect and protect everyone’s rights to voice concerns and stand up for what they believe in, but we urge all actions to remain peaceful and lawful. Our collective priority remains protecting our neighborhoods and keeping people safe,” a statement said.

    Trump weighs in on the shooting in Minneapolis

    Trump posted to his Truth Social account after a man was killed by federal officers during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis. Trump’s statement said:

    “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go — What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’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! Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy. We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW. Those Fraudsters who stole the money are going to jail, where they belong! This is no different than a really big Bank Robbery. Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud.

    “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America. LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!”

    DHS says officers fired ‘defensive shots’

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

    She said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

    Police chief says man shot and killed was a ‘lawful gun owner’

    O’Hara said the man’s only previous interaction with law enforcement as far as he knew was for traffic tickets.

    “And we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” he said.

    Police chief asks public, law enforcement to remain calm

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement, following the shooting of a man.

    “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,” the chief said.

    “We urge everyone to remain peaceful. We recognize that there is a lot of anger and a lot of questions around what has happened, but we need people to remain peaceful in the area.”

    Police also clarified that the age of the man shot is 37.

    Angry crowd gathers after shooting of man in Minneapolis

    An angry crowd 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.

    The intersection where the shooting has been blocked off, and Border Patrol agents are on the scene wielding batons.

    The shooting happened a day after thousands of demonstrators protesting the crackdown on immigrants crowded the city’s streets in frigid weather, calling for federal law enforcement to leave.

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar expresses outrage at shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has expressed outrage at the shooting of a man during an immigration operation.

    “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,” Klobuchar said in a message posted on X.

    Minnesota Democrats react to the shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith issued a statement after the shooting of a man during an ICE operation. She said, “We are gathering more information, but ICE must leave now so MPD can secure the scene and do their jobs.”

    Rep. Angie Craig said in a statement that she has seen “my own eyes the video of another horrific killing by ICE agents this morning in Minneapolis. This is sickening.

    “The agency is beyond out of control. How much more evidence do my Republican colleagues in Minnesota need to speak out?”

    Minneapolis police chief calls for calm

    Police Chief Brian O’Hara called for protesters who amassed at the scene of a shooting to stay calm and leave the area. “Please do not destroy our own city,” he said at a news conference.

    Rep. Omar releases statement after Minnesota shooting

    Rep. Ilhan Omar issued a statement after the shooting of a man by federal officers in Minnesota.

    “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,” she said in a statement.

    “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.”

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  • Minnesota AG Keith Ellison accuses White House of

    St. Paul, Minnesota — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accused the Trump administration of turning immigration enforcement into “politics and retribution,” describing what he called a “surge” of federal agents in the Twin Cities as a constitutional crisis, and said he has seen “no evidence” of a federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month.  

    “In fact, I have evidence to the contrary that the federal government is investigating the death of Renee Good at all,” Ellison told CBS News in an interview Friday. 

    He added, “Todd Blanche, who is the No. 2 at DOJ, said they’re not investigating.”

    At the same time, Minnesota authorities, Ellison said, are seeking a “full, fair and joint investigation.”

    “In Minnesota, if you are killed — particularly if you’re killed…in connection with an action by an official federal or state, we will investigate your death,” Ellison said. 

    The state agency tasked with investigating Good’s killing, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, withdrew from a joint investigation with the FBI a day after the shooting. It said in a statement at the time the agency said it had been informed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that “the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.”

    When asked in a Jan. 18 interview with “Face the Nation” whether the ICE officer who shot Good was under investigation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the department was “following the exact same investigative and review process that we always have under ICE, and under the Department of Homeland Security, and within the administration.”

    Ellison on the apprehension of 5-year-old Liam Ramos by ICE

    Ellison strongly disputed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s assertions about 5-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken into ICE custody outside his home. Ramos’ image has been widely circulated across the news and social media in a photo that shows him wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack. DHS said the boy had been “abandoned.” 

    “I don’t buy that at all. In fact, there are very credible people who know Liam who refute that. I believe them over ICE,” Ellison said, calling DHS’ claim and subsequent treatment of Ramos “another example of atrocity” tied to the deportation effort DHS has dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” 

    Witnesses told CBS News that ICE used the boy as bait to lure family members out.

    “That is morally repugnant and nothing the federal government should ever be associated with,” Ellison said.

    Suing to stop DHS’ warrantless arrests in Minnesota 

    Ellison’s office and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop what they allege are unlawful tactics, framing the surge as a planned deployment targeting Minnesota, not a routine enforcement action. He argued the operation has been fueled by President Trump’s anger over losing the 2020 presidential election.

    “Mr. Trump said ‘retribution.’ He said he won Minnesota three times and that leaders here wrongfully denied him. So he’s mad at us,” Ellison said. Asked whether the ICE operation is about politics, rather than law enforcement, he replied, “It’s 100% about politics and retribution.”

    DHS alleges leaders in Minnesota “created disorder” by failing to cooperate with federal law enforcement. Ellison called this “a false statement” and said planning for the surge of federal law enforcement had long been underway. He said he believes U.S. officials are shifting their rationale now because public opinion is turning against the operation.

    At the center of the lawsuit, Ellison said, are accusations of warrantless arrests without individualized assessment — including alleged civil immigration arrests without probable cause — along with racial profiling and what he described as excessive detention.

    DHS has claimed that there are a few arrest videos that were taken out of context.

    “Yeah, well, they’re going to have to defend their position in court, because that’s not true,” Ellison replied.

    If he’s successful in obtaining an injunction blocking the DHS operation in Minnesota, it’s not clear whether the state could enforce it — or that it would survive appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ellison acknowledged that uncertainty but said inaction was not an option.

    “The only alternative is to do nothing and hope for the best,” he said. “We have to do all that is in our power to insist that the federal government obey the law.”

    Ellison said the DHS surge is imposing significant costs on state and local governments, with “hundreds of thousands of dollars” spent daily on crowd control, overtime and emergency response.

    He also described a stream of injury complaints tied to pepper spray, tear gas and “less lethal munitions,” adding that “literally dozens every day” are making reports, while also emphasizing the harms of what he called unlawful detention and imprisonment.

    And pressed on whether the state would subpoena federal agents in its civil case to access evidence in the Good case, Ellison said legal and ethical constraints govern the boundary between civil litigation and criminal investigations, but he did not rule it out.

    “We’re going to do what is legal and ethical,” he said.

    ICE’s new authority to carry out warrantless searches

    ICE agents have seen their authority expanded — a May memo that was recently disclosed by whistleblowers said agents are authorized to use force to enter homes without a judicial warrant. Ellison called the policy “unconstitutional” and said he’s heard reports it’s being used in Minnesota. He signaled the state would challenge such actions. 

    Cooperation with ICE

    DHS has said that Minnesota is not cooperating with ICE detainers — requests to hold detainees for an additional 48 hours so they can be turned over to ICE custody — or other requests for assistance. Ellison counters that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility — not the state’s — and while Minnesota is not a sanctuary state, state laws and court orders sometimes prevent the state from assisting ICE because it cannot hold criminals beyond their sentence.

    For instance, he said that if an individual sought by the federal government is arrested for driving under the influence, “our courts don’t have the legal authority to hold them once the court has said they need — they are to be released.”

    He indicated that the state is following its laws as they’re written: “They’re asking us to join them in breaking the law, and we can’t do that. We believe in upholding the law.”

    But cooperation with ICE detainers is uneven in Minnesota. In Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located, the sheriff told CBS News that authorities do not notify ICE when detainees are released back into the community. The Department of Corrections, however, does notify ICE.

    DHS says that if every county in the state coordinated with ICE, federal agents could go home and ICE would not continue to conduct raids in Minnesota.

    “They’re saying, ‘Oh, well, if you only would tell us, do our job for us, then we could go home.’ No, you didn’t,” Ellison said. He added, “ICE needs to do its job that it is paid to do, and it has a massive budget to do.”

    “Minnesota is not a sanctuary state,” he told CBS News. “We don’t do the federal government’s job, but we don’t in any way obstruct them from doing their job.”

    He suggested his state is at the center of a collision between politics and constitutional rights and warned that “the only way to get along” with the administration is to “abandon constitutional rights.”

    “We must insist upon our First Amendment right to vote for whoever we please and not be persecuted,” he said. “We must insist on the Fourth Amendment protection to be free of unreasonable search and seizure.”

    T. Sean Herbert and

    Hunter Woodall

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  • Legal scholars raise concerns about internal ICE policy authorizing entry into homes without judicial warrants

    An internal U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement memo from a whistleblower and obtained by the Associated Press that authorizes officers to enter homes without judicial warrants is raising concerns among legal scholars who say the policy is a clear violation of the Constitution. 

    The directive from last May states that while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not historically relied on administrative warrants to arrest immigrants subject to final orders of removal at their homes, “the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose.”

    Administrative warrants are signed by immigration officials, not judges.

    The previously undisclosed memo comes as Operation Metro Surge continues in Minnesota. Authorities call it the largest immigration operation ever in Minnesota with more than 3,000 federal immigration agents assigned to the state. The operation has sparked clashes between ICE and protestors, leading to several violent encounters including the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.

    Agents on Jan. 11 forcibly entered the home of a Liberian citizen living in Minneapolis to arrest him without a judicial warrant, a federal judge said. Garrison Gibson, the man detained, was in the country legally under terms that he met regularly with immigration authorities, according to the judge’s order. 

    U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan said Gibson’s arrest violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizures.

    “To arrest him, respondents forcibly entered [his] home without his consent and without a judicial warrant,” Bryan wrote. 

    That law enforcement would need such a warrant approved by a judge in order to enter a home is well-established legal precedent reiterated by the courts time and again, constitutional experts told WCCO news. 

    Emmanuel Mauleón, associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota who specializes in the Fourth Amendment, said that administrative warrants authorize arrests, but that does not mean those arrests can happen inside a person’s residence without their consent to enter.

    “This has been long-standing Fourth Amendment interpretation. There has been no U.S. Supreme Court case ever that has found that an administrative warrant meets this bar,” Mauleón said. “What I’ll say is the Fourth Amendment probable cause requirement is not a high bar, so that the idea that they can’t even meet that is deeply troubling. Or the idea that they’re not going to go about the process of seeking a warrant is deeply troubling.”

    Jimmy Percival, general counsel for DHS, in an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, defended the policy and said it was both reasonable and lawful. 

    “While administrative warrants may satisfy the Fourth Amendment for any arrest of an illegal alien, ICE currently uses these warrants to enter an illegal alien’s residence only when the alien has received a final order of removal from an immigration judge,” Percival wrote. “That means the alien has already seen a judge, presented his case, received due process, and been ordered removed from the country.”

    Mauleón disputed that characterization, again emphasizing that administrative warrants authorizing arrests are not the same as “entry into a constitutionally protected space.”

    “The best parallel that I could suggest is you could imagine that a police officer is conducting an investigation or wants to arrest somebody, and instead of going to a judge and saying, ‘Hey, this is the evidence that I have, do I have probable cause to search their home?’ They just go to their typewriter and type up a sheet of paper that says, ‘I have a warrant to search their home.’ That’s essentially what DHS is doing,” Mauleón said. 

    Vice President JD Vance during a visit to Minneapolis on Thursday was asked if he thought the ICE policy violates the Fourth Amendment. He did not directly say if he thought so, but conceded courts could disagree with that policy and vowed to follow an order if they did. 

    “Our understanding is that you can enforce the immigration laws of the country under an administrative order if you have an administrative warrant. That’s what we think. That’s our understanding of the law. That’s our best faith attempt to understand the law,” Vance told reporters. “Again, this is something courts will weigh in on. I won’t speak to that, but yes, most immigration law in our country is not done through the criminal system with the judge. It’s done through the administrative law system.”

    David Schultz, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas and political science professor at Hamline University who focuses on the Constitution, called requiring judicial warrants before entering a home an “incredibly well-established principle of American law” that dates back to the country’s founding. 

    “There really is no debate on this one among legal scholars that an administrative warrant gives you no authority to enter houses at all,” Schultz said. 

    The memo on administrative warrants was not shared widely within the agency but has been used to train ICE officers, according to the whistleblower complaint.

    Camilo Montoya-Galvez

    contributed to this report.

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    Caroline Cummings

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