Federal agents shoot man dead in Minneapolis

Federal agents in Minneapolis shot a man dead on Saturday, the second fatality at the hands of law enforcement this month in the city which has become a flashpoint in an immigration crackdown by Donald Trump’s administration.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old American citizen had been killed following a confrontation with immigration agents, and called for calm as demonstrations spread across the city. The man’s family later named him as Alex Pretti, a registered nurse.

Video footage of the incident appeared to show Pretti attempting to help another protester who had been pepper sprayed. Federal agents then wrestled him to the ground before firing several shots from close range.

Minnesota law enforcement officials said they had been denied access to the scene of the shooting as tensions escalated between the Trump administration and the Democratic-run state.

Protests broke out in several major cities as outrage over the shooting spread across the nation. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, indicated his party would block a government funding package if it included financing for the Department of Homeland Security, raising the possibility of a government shutdown as soon as next week.

There have been repeated clashes in Minneapolis between law enforcement and protesters in recent weeks amid a sweeping immigration crackdown and deportation campaign directed by Trump.

Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 7. A week later Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, was shot and survived.

On Saturday Trump posted on Truth Social a picture of what he said was the victim’s firearm “loaded . . . and ready to go”. “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!” the president wrote. He described the incident as a “cover-up” for fraud in the state. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, called Pretti a “would-be assassin”. 

Pretti’s family released a statement saying they were “heartbroken but also very angry” and condemned the comments.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the Pretti family said. “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs.”

Video captured shortly before the incident shows Pretti recording officers on his phone when one comes over to confront him. Another video shows multiple officers attempting to detain him just before the shooting.

The DHS said officers had been carrying out an immigration operation shortly after 9am local time when they were approached by an individual with a semi-automatic handgun.

Border patrol commander Greg Bovino said agents had “attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted”.

Footage of the moments leading up to the incident that circulated on social media did not appear to show the man brandishing a weapon.

O’Hara, the city police chief, said the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry” and that his only known interaction with law enforcement was for traffic offences.

After the shooting, protests erupted in the city. Video footage showed the authorities deploying tear gas as they sought to disperse a growing number of demonstrators taking to the streets, many wearing gas masks and chanting Good’s name and “our streets”.

Trump has deployed ICE agents en masse to big Democrat-led cities including Los Angeles and Chicago in recent months, ostensibly to detain undocumented immigrants, leading to stand-offs between local and federal authorities over jurisdiction.

Minneapolis police said they had not been provided with any additional information from federal counterparts since Saturday’s shooting.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the DHS had blocked local investigators’ access to the scene even though the bureau had obtained a warrant.

Evans said his ability to investigate the shooting was “compromised”.

“We have a long history of working together” with federal authorities, he said. “We’re in uncharted territory here.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said: “I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummelling one of our constituents, shooting him to death. How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?”

Minnesota governor Tim Walz called on Trump to remove federal agents from the city and allow local authorities to carry out any investigation.

Walz has activated the Minnesota National Guard to assist local police with the protests. 

He said the DHS account of the shooting was “nonsense” after seeing videos. “What I see with my eyes and what you’re going to see with your eyes makes that pretty hard to believe,” he said.

Additional reporting by Peter Andringa and Jamie Han