MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democrats demanded federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis and set off clashes with protesters who poured into the frigid streets in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.
The latest shooting also sparked a legal fight over control of the investigation and renewed calls by state and city officials for an end to the immigration surge that has swept across Minneapolis and surrounding cities.
Federal officials say agents fired defensively Saturday morning when Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, stepped into a confrontation between an immigration officer and a woman on the street. Officials say Pretti was armed, but no bystander videos appear to show him holding a weapon. The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.
Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities, saying in a statement that Pretti a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world.
A federal judge has already issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting, after state and county officials sued.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the lawsuit filed Saturday is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St. Paul.
“A full, impartial, and transparent investigation into his fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents is nonnegotiable,” Ellison said in a statement.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which are named in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Sunday.
Another federal judge previously ruled that officers participating in the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, though an appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling days before Saturday's shooting.
The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Gov. Tim Walz, officials said, with troops sent to both the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off daily with demonstrators.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference that Pretti showed up to “impede a law enforcement operation.” She questioned why he was armed but did not offer details about whether Pretti drew the weapon or brandished it at officers.
But gun rights groups have noted it's legal to carry firearms during protests.
“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 Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”
Trump blames Democrats
The president weighed in on social media by lashing out at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor.
He 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?”
Trump said the Democratic governor and mayor are “are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding that federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota. She also urged Democrats to refuse to vote to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying via social media: “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer later said that Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for DHS, which oversees ICE. Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out.
Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.
Pretti's family was furious at federal officials' description of the shooting.
“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 family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
Video shows officers, man who was shot
When the Saturday confrontation began, bystander video shows protesters blowing whistles and shouting profanities at federal officers on a commercial street in south Minneapolis.
The videos show Pretti stepping in after an immigration officer shoves a woman. Pretti appears to be holding his phone toward the officer, but there's no sign he's holding a weapon.
The officer shoves Pretti in his chest, and pepper sprays him and the woman.
Soon, at least seven officers are forcing Pretti to the ground. Several officers try to bring the man’s arms behind his back as he appears to resist. An officer holding a canister strikes him near his head several times.
A shot rings out, but with officers surrounding the man, it’s not clear where it came from. Multiple officers back off. More shots are heard. Officers back away, and the man lies motionless on the street.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander leading Trump’s crackdown, was repeatedly pressed on CNN’s Sunday “State of the Union” for evidence that Pretti did anything illegal or assaulted law enforcement, as officials have claimed.
Bovino said it was “very evident” that Pretti was not following the the officers' orders.
“It’s too bad the consequences had to be paid because he injected himself into that crime scene," he said. "He made the decision.”
Walz said he had no confidence in federal officials and the state would lead the investigation into the shooting.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said during a news conference that federal officers blocked his agency from the scene even after it obtained a signed judicial warrant.
Protests continue
Demonstrations broke out in several cities across the country, including New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, protesters converged at the scene of the shooting despite dangerously cold weather with temperatures around minus 6 degrees (minus 21 Celsius).
An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. Protesters dragged garbage bins from alleyways to block streets, and people chanted “ICE out now” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”
As darkness, fell hundreds of people mourned quietly by a growing memorial at the site of the shooting. A doughnut shop and a clothing store nearby stayed open, offering protesters a warm place as well as water, coffee and snacks.
Caleb Spike said he 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.”
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Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell'Orto and Tim Sullivan in Minnesota, Rebecca Santanta in Washington and Jim Mustian in New York contributed this story.
