Minneapolis shooting: parents of Alex Pretti say Trump officials are telling ‘sickening lies’ | Minneapolis

Welcome to our live coverage of the outcry across the United States following the shooting death of 37-year-old American citizen Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday; This is the second such murder in less than three weeks.

Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they were “heartbroken but also outraged” after Donald Trump and officials referred to Pretti as a “gunman” approaching US border patrol officers.

“The disgusting lies told by the administration about our son are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex was clearly not holding a gun when he was attacked by Trump’s murderous and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head as he tries to protect the woman ICE pushed down while being pepper sprayed,” the family statement said. “Please reveal the truth about our son. He was a good man.”

Two witnesses to the murder said in affidavits that the intensive care nurse did not brandish a gun when she approached federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. An eyewitness who filmed the confrontation right behind Pretti said federal agents caught him after he came to help someone they had pushed to the ground.

Footage from the scene supports Pretti’s claim that he was holding a phone, not a gun, when he was attacked and shot.

Following the murder, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an image of a gun that Donald Trump called the “gunman’s gun” in his social media post. DHS secretary Kristi Noem said in a briefing that Pretti “approached U.S. border patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.” Senior Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said: “This looks like a situation where one person wanted to do maximum damage and decimate law enforcement.”

Here are some of the latest developments:

• Minnesota federal judge Eric Tostrud He ordered federal agencies to preserve evidence related to Pretti’s death. Tostrud’s decision was a response to a lawsuit filed by Minnesota officials on Saturday alleging federal authorities had obstructed investigative efforts.

• Thousands of protesters gathered in cities including Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. They braved the extreme cold to chant: “Say it once, say it twice, we won’t stand for ICE!”

• Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says his party will block a funding package next week If it includes money for DHS, the department responsible for ICE. “What is happening in Minnesota is appalling and unacceptable in any American city,” the New York senator said. “Democrats sought common-sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but with Republicans refusing to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in ICE abuses. I will vote no.”