National Guard activated in Minneapolis after Border Patrol agent kills man

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.“

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

Trump has nothing on his public schedule on Saturday besides a screening at the White House in the evening of a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message by The Associated Press inquiring about how Trump was spending the day and whether he intended to speak to Walz.

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 Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

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 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.

▶ Read more about Alex Jeffrey Pretti

The NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors was postponed on Saturday afternoon following another fatal shooting by a federal officer in Minneapolis.

The league announced the decision was made to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community” after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed in a confrontation with officers on a street in a commercial district less than two miles from Target Center, the downtown arena where the Timberwolves play.

The game was moved back by 24 hours, rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. The Timberwolves and Warriors are also scheduled to play on Monday night.

▶ Read more about the postponed basketball game

Hundreds of people blocked off the intersection where the shooting happened, around a growing makeshift memorial to Pretti.

Holding a drill with which she had nailed a wooden cross to a light post and wearing the red whistle that activists in the Twin Cities have used to alert to ICE presence in the neighborhoods, Fabiola Rodriguez called agents criminals and killers.

“They are hurting our people, they’re taking our kids away,” she said to cheers from the crowd in the streets. “We are asking for justice and peace, for everybody, not only for the Latinos. We ask it for everybody.”

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.

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.

Federal officials previously blocked state investigators from accessing evidence after an ICE official shot protester Renee Good, declaring that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.

A makeshift memorial was beginning to take shape at a bus stop next to the site of the shooting. People left flowers and lit candles.

Meanwhile, 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.”

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt requested guard assistance at the Whipple Federal Building so deputies can be reallocated to other areas.

They will be tasked with helping protect life, property and community safety, 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,” it said in a statement.

“We know this moment is challenging for our community. Remember that our local teams are also part of this community.”

President Donald Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out at Minnesota’s governor and the Minneapolis mayor with a post that seemed to only heighten the tensions rather than calm the chaos.

Trump shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered and said, “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”

He said that Walz and Frey are “inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.” He also blamed them for a series of fraud cases in Minnesota involving government programs and defendants who have roots in Somalia.

Trump’s post veered away from remarks by Vice President JD Vance this week when he visited Minneapolis and said he wanted to “lower the temperature.” Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, but Vance said that the Trump administration did not feel it was necessary “right now.”

In a bystander video obtained by the AP, people can be heard blowing whistles and shouting profanities at agents on Nicollet Avenue.

The video shows an officer shoving a person who is wearing a brown jacket, green skirt and black tights and carrying a water bottle. That person reaches out for a man and the two link up, embracing.

The man, wearing a brown jacket and black hat, seems to be holding his phone up toward the officer.

The same officer shoves the man in his chest and the two, still embracing, fall back.

The video then shifts to a different part of the street and then comes back to the two individuals unlinking from each other. The video shifts focus again and then shows three officers surrounding the man.

Soon at least seven officers surround the man. One is on the man’s back and another who appears to have a cannister in his hand strikes a blow to the man’s chest. Several officers try to bring the man’s arms behind his back as he appears to resist. As they pull his arms, his face is briefly visible on camera. The officer with the cannister strikes the man near his head several times.

A shot rings out, but with officers surrounding the man, it’s not clear from where the shot came. Multiple officers back off of the man after the shot. More shots are heard. Officers back away and the man lies motionless on the street.

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 says officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him.

Federal officers confronted protesters in Minneapolis after an officer shot and killed a man on Jan. 24, 2026.

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.

About a block away from the shooting scene, the situation remained tense three hours after the incident, with at least 200 protesters gathered and more coming, and a line of dozens of federal agents wearing gas masks.

Protesters are chanting “go home now” and others are yelling “murderers” as more continue to arrive at the scene

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.

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.”

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith issued a statement after the shooting of a man during an immigration 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?”

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.

An angry crowd gathered and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home.

About a block from the shooting scene black smoke churned into the sky from where protesters had lit a fire in a metal dumpster. 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.

The crowd gathered at the scene following the shooting. Border Patrol agents are on the scene, wielding batons.

That’s according to a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press.

Correction: A previous version of this post mistakenly said the victim was 51 years old.

A 37-year-old man shot Saturday by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis has died, a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press shows.

The person was shot amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Gov. Tim Walz said. The details surrounding the shooting weren’t immediately clear. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the AP in a text messages that the person had a firearm with two magazines and that the situation was “evolving.”

The shooting happened amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was killed when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired into her vehicle.

▶ Read more about the shooting

Correction: A previous version of this post mistakenly said the victim was 51 years old.