Hundreds of people gather around the growing memorial at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue where federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Photo: Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
The federal killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis this month, captured from various angles by witnesses recording on their cellphones, started a dizzying day here and in Washington. Democratic politicians and ordinary Americans reacted with a mixture of outrage and disbelief, blasting the Trump administration as a federal operation Democratic Gov. Tim Walz called it a “profession” was approaching the third month.
Late Saturday, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Minnesota had already done so ordered The Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies should refrain from “destroying or altering evidence.”
said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York his party would block the necessary passage of a government appropriations package – and a partial government shutdown next week – if it includes additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
As happened earlier this month after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, senior Trump administration officials on Saturday were quick to blame the incident on the victim.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Alex Jeffrey Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” echoing a phrase used by Vice President J.D. Vance to describe Good. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said Pretti appeared eager to inflict “maximum damage” on federal agents gathered Saturday morning near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street. Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s top domestic policy adviser, called Pretti a “killer.”
Videos taken at the scene – as well as what is known about Pretti’s past – contradict the Trump administration’s claims. According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, Pretti was a legal gun owner with a concealed carry permit and no criminal record.
Moments before he was shot, Pretti could be seen on video with federal officers’ phones – not guns – which has become standard practice among anti-ICE activists.
Cellphone footage shows a group of Border Patrol agents knocking him to the ground and beating him; the agent removes Pretti’s gun from its holster and Pretti appears to pose no threat to the officers surrounding him. Moments later, about 10 shots are heard.
In affidavit filed Saturday evening, a doctor who lives nearby said Pretti had no pulse when they arrived on the scene. The doctor, whose name and identity have not been made public, stated that the agents did not provide life-saving treatment and initially rejected the doctor’s offer. Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene a tiny time later.
Pretti’s name appeared in media reports in the early afternoon. It is unclear whether federal, state or local officials attempted to notify his next of kin in advance. said Michael Pretti, his father first learned of the shooting from an Associated Press reporter.
“I can’t get any information from anyone,” Michael Pretti told the AP, detailing the bypass with Border Patrol, local police and local hospitals. He said the Hennepin County Medical Examiner ultimately confirmed they had Alex Pretti’s body.
“We are devastated, but also very angry,” Pretti’s parents said in a message statement released later on Saturday, which described Pretti as a “hero” who “wanted to make a difference in this world.”
“The disgusting lies told by the administration about our son are reprehensible and disgusting,” they said. “Please reveal the truth about our son.”
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension they said DHS officials blocked it investigators from the crime scene even after they return with a court order. Details of the order are unclear, as are BCA’s remedies if the Department of Homeland Security continues to obstruct its efforts. Federal officials said Saturday that the Department of Homeland Security, not the FBI or Minnesota BCA, would lead the investigation.
The names of the agents involved in the shooting have not been released. Bovina he told CNN on Sunday that he did not know whether more than one agent fired the shots.
Minnesota officials questioned how the Department of Homeland Security handled the shooting’s aftermath and indicated they did not trust the department to conduct a fair investigation.
Minnesota Department of Corrections unveiled a modern website this weekend to combat “continued disinformation” from the Department of Homeland Security. In long statement on Saturday, the department questioned Bovino’s initial explanation for the operation that led to Pretti’s death. The statement said the person Bovino identified as the target of the operation did not have a significant criminal history, as Bovino claimed, and had been previously released from immigration detention in 2018 – during the first Trump administration.
AND recent article By state linewhich is a States Newsroom outlet like Reformerstated that eyewitness testimony and other evidence often contradict DHS’s initial description of events involving its agents.
On Sunday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison he said he expected the Department of Homeland Security to listen Saturday’s court order to preserve evidence to support the state’s own investigation.
“We’ve had to threaten them with contempt several times, but we haven’t experienced open defiance of the court’s orders,” Ellison said. Tribune of Stars.
By Sunday, there were signs that at least some elected Republicans and gun rights groups were uncomfortable with the official position that Pretti posed a clear and present death threat. Few elected Republicans wholeheartedly supported the administration’s narrative, and even some influential right-wingers who typically toe the party line he stepped back.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who faces a primary challenge from his right this year, called Saturday Shooting “extremely disturbing.”
“The credibility of ICE and DHS is at stake,” he said Sunday. “There must be a full joint federal and state investigation.”
So does the Minnesota Gun Owners Club issued a statement calling for an independent investigation.
“Every peaceful Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including when participating in protests, serving as a bystander, or exercising First Amendment rights. These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed and must be respected and protected at all times,” the group said.
Kevin Stitt, outgoing Republican Governor of Oklahoma, – he suggested in Sunday’s interview from CNN that the administration should rethink its immigration enforcement efforts.
“So what is the goal now? Is it to deport every non-U.S. citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want,” he said. “We need to stop politicizing this. We need real solutions on immigration reform.”
Dozens of Minnesota business leaders released the report open letter it gently called for a change in the federal government’s approach, risking the wrath of Trump, who is known for taking revenge on those who oppose him.
“Following yesterday’s tragic news, we call for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find viable solutions,” the CEOs wrote.
They included top officials from Medtronic, 3M, Target and sports franchises. This is noteworthy because as Reformer previously reportedthe country’s largest companies have so far remained publicly still. Business leaders, the Chamber says in its letter, have been “working behind the scenes” since the beginning of the federal siege.
Some in the Trump administration may be looking for a lifeline, even on their terms. On Saturday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Minnesota could end the surge in federal law enforcement if it repealed its pro-immigrant “sanctuary” policy and turned over its voter rolls to the federal government. (Minnesota is not a “sanctuary state”; attempting to pass a sanctuary law the last time Democrats controlled the Legislature he didn’t go anywhere.)
What is remarkable is that Bondi made such an offer at all. But this is unlikely to lead to a solution. On Sunday, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, in a scathing statement, rejected the idea of giving the federal government information about the state’s voters.
“The answer to Attorney General Bondi’s request is no. Her letter is an outrageous attempt to force Minnesota to hand over the private data of millions of U.S. citizens to the federal government in violation of state and federal law,” Simon said.
False claims of voter fraud have become the basis of the Trumpist political movement. A group of right-wing activists led by Mike Lindell – a pillow tycoon who is currently running for governor as a Republican – claimed that voter fraud was widespread after the 2020 election. However, under the state’s regular election audit process, A random group of precincts within each congressional district was selected for review, totaling approximately 440,000 votes after the 2020 election and covering more than 200 precincts. The manual results were virtually identical to the machine results.
This story was originally produced by Minnesota reformerswhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
