Federal agents fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, sparking an angry confrontation at the scene where one officer was reportedly heard mocking protesters.
According to the Associated Press, demonstrators gathered near federal agents shortly after the shooting that killed a 37-year-old man later identified by his parents as ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Witnesses in the crowd shouted profanities, called officers “cowards,” and told them to go home, the AP reported. As he walked away, one officer allegedly responded with a dismissive, mocking “boo hoo.”
Multiple protesters were detained, and some were shoved into cars by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to the AP. Protesters later dragged garbage dumpsters into streets to block officers’ routes while chanting, “ICE out now.” Federal officers used batons and deployed flash bangs during the clash, per the AP.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara addressed the shooting at a press conference, identifying the victim and emphasizing that local officials had limited information about what led up to the gunfire.
“Based on the information we have, this is a 37-year-old white male who is a Minneapolis resident, and we believe he is an American citizen,” O’Hara said at a press conference, per The Hill. “We have not been told any official reports of what has led up to the shooting.”
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A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement after the incident that “DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis” against an undocumented immigrant allegedly wanted for assault at around 9:00 a.m. local time on Saturday.
The spokesperson claimed the man — whose identity has not been made public — “approached” U.S. Border Patrol officers while armed with a handgun and “violently resisted” as they attempted to disarm him, adding that an agent then fired “defensive shots.”
O’Hara said the man received first aid and was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, 44, condemned the shooting at a press conference Saturday, noting it came just weeks after Renee Good was killed in the city by an ICE agent.
“How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” Frey asked during his public address, per the Guardian. “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?”
Frey also appealed directly to President Donald Trump, urging him to “put America first” and remove federal law enforcement officers from Minneapolis.
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“How many times must local and national leaders plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city,” Frey said. “We have seen these kinds of operations in other places, in other countries, but not here in America, not in a way where a great American city is being invaded by its own federal government.”
“I’m done being told that our community members are responsible for the vitriol in our streets,” the mayor continued. “I’m done being told that our local elected officials are solely responsible for turning down the temperature.”
Frey pointed to recent protests in the city, arguing that residents had demonstrated peacefully without violence.
“Just yesterday, we saw 15,000 people peacefully protesting in the streets, speaking out, standing up for their neighbors. Not a single broken window, not a single injury,” Frey said in part. “So, to everyone listening, stand with Minneapolis. Stand up for America. Recognize that your children will ask you what side you were on.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also responded in a post on X, saying he spoke with White House officials and pressed for Trump to pull ICE agents from Minneapolis.
“The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now,” Walz, 61, added.
