Federal Immigration and Border Patrol Agents Shot and Killed 37-Year-Old Minneapolis Resident Alex Pretti During an Operation

In a statement published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on X, the agency said that during an operation to detain “an illegal immigrant wanted for a violent assault,” a man carrying a firearm approached law enforcement officers. Agents attempted to disarm him, but, according to the statement, he offered “violent resistance.” One of the officers then fired several shots “in self-defense”—the man died at the scene.

The post was accompanied by an image of a handgun that authorities said belonged to the deceased. The statement also claimed that he had allegedly intended to deliberately harm the agents. “The suspect was also carrying two loaded magazines and had no identification—suggesting that he intended to cause maximum harm and carry out a mass killing of law enforcement officers,” the statement said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian OʼHara later said that the man killed was 37-year-old local resident Alex Pretti. He suggested that Pretti was a “lawful gun owner” and held a permit to carry a firearm—a claim later confirmed by relatives.

According to the family’s account, they learned of the incident from an Associated Press reporter. County medical examiners then confirmed to the parents that the body found matched their son’s name and description. Relatives said Pretti was a U.S. citizen and worked as an intensive care unit nurse at a veterans’ hospital. They also noted that he had no criminal record, apart from several traffic violations.

Pretti is known to have opposed Donald Trump’s immigration policies in his city. The confrontation with federal agents appears to have occurred during protests against ICE actions amid one of the agency’s raids. According to federal officials, the fatal shot was fired by a Border Patrol veteran with eight years of service. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed at a press conference that the man was carrying a weapon, but did not specify whether he drew it or threatened the agents.

A community note attached to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s post states that the man was in fact heading toward a woman who had fallen after being pushed by one of the agents. According to the note, he was holding a mobile phone—not a handgun—in his hand. He was then forced to the ground. The comment is accompanied by three links to videos of the incident filmed from different angles.

Journalists at The Wall Street Journal conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of several videos recorded by bystanders and described the sequence of events. According to their reporting, on Saturday at around 9 a.m. local time on Nicollet Avenue, residents were blowing warning whistles and filming masked federal agents moving through Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood. One recording shows Alex Pretti standing on the street and apparently documenting the scene on his phone as other people approach the agents.

Seconds later, Pretti steps closer, shouts, “Hey!”—and continues filming. As he and two other civilians begin to move away, one of the agents follows them. The agent then pushes a person who was apparently standing near Pretti. Pretti immediately positions himself between the fallen individual and the agent, who, judging by the footage, deploys a nonlethal chemical agent on all three.

A scuffle then breaks out. Agents drag Pretti aside, and at least five masked Department of Homeland Security officers surround him and force him to the ground. Bystander footage shows one of the agents drawing a firearm and aiming it at Pretti.

Almost simultaneously, another video—verified by the WSJ—shows Pretti lying pinned to the ground as agents appear to discover a firearm on him. Less than a second later, one of them fires—this is the first of at least ten shots fired within five seconds.

Other outlets that reviewed the same footage conclude that Alex Pretti did not threaten federal agents. They note that none of the videos show a weapon in his hand. At the moment of the agents’ assault, Pretti was holding only a mobile phone, Associated Press, Reuters, and The New York Times report.

This is already the second civilian death resulting from the actions of federal immigration services in Minneapolis. On January 7, an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old local resident Rene Nicole Good. Her car had blocked the path of an unmarked ICE pickup truck. The killing of Rene Nicole Good sparked large-scale protests against immigration enforcement not only in Minneapolis but across the country.

The killing of Alex Pretti triggered a new wave of protests, after which Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ordered the deployment of the National Guard to support local police. At the same time, he sharply condemned the actions of federal agents. According to Walz, after the latest shooting he contacted the White House and said that what was happening was unacceptable for the state. He described the incident as “disgusting,” demanded that the operation be halted, and called for the immediate withdrawal from Minnesota of “thousands of violent, untrained officers.”

Donald Trump, as after the killing of Rene Good, sided with immigration enforcement officers and criticized Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and the state’s governor. On his Truth Social platform, the president posted a photograph of a handgun and claimed that local authorities had allegedly prevented police from assisting ICE agents, forcing them to act in self-defense. “Let our ICE patriots do their job!” Trump wrote.