Protests in Minneapolis after man shot dead by immigration agents

Immigration officers shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, sparking angry protests and condemnation.

Hundreds of demonstrators braved freezing weather to protest the shooting of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti during a clash on Saturday morning.

Multiple videos from different angles from the scene show the scuffle between federal immigration officers and Pretti.

Federal and state authorities have offered conflicting versions of what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting, which occurred less than three weeks after an agent killed Renee Good in her car in Minneapolis.

The Trump administration characterizes the moments leading up to Pretti’s death as an attack by Pretti, alleging that he approached officers with a handgun and fired in self-defense from a border patrol agent after he violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

But there is no evidence in the videos to support his claim that he used any armed force to threaten the agents; Instead, he is seen being pepper-sprayed, tackled to the ground and shot after an agent pulls out a gun from the fight.

The Trump administration has described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.” But Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called his statement “nonsense and a lie.”

The shooting occurred at 09:05 local time (15:05 GMT) on Saturday morning near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street in south Minneapolis.

On Saturday night, hundreds of people remembered Pretti, lit candles and chanted his name near the scene of the shooting.

Throughout the day, hundreds of protesters demonstrated their anger at ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and shootings in the city, with armed and masked agents firing tear gas and flash grenades.

Protests spread to other US cities; More than 1,000 demonstrators in New York City on Saturday held signs such as “Justice for Alex” and “Abolish ICE.” Hundreds of people also attended a protest in Chicago, where temperatures were below zero.

Videos of the moments before the shooting show Pretti filming the agents on his phone in the middle of the street as they participated in protests against the city’s immigration crackdown.

Pretti was seen filming a video of a federal agent pushing a woman and shoving another woman to the ground.

In the video, Pretti is seen moving between the agent and a woman, raising his left arm to protect himself as he sprays a substance into the agent’s eyes.

Videos show several agents grabbing Pretti and pinning him to the ground.

A police officer approaches the fight empty-handed and retreats with what appears to be a gun in his hand.

As he walks away, a second later another agent standing next to him opens fire. The agents jump over the man lying on the ground and the shooting continues.

Pretti’s parents, Michael Pretti and Susan Pretti, released a statement saying they were “heartbroken but also very angry.” They described their son as a “kind-hearted soul” who wanted to “make a difference.”

“Please reveal the truth about our son. He was a good man,” they added.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “was there to continue the violence” and approached federal agents with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

He said he and other officers feared for their lives when an agent fired “defensive shots.” Noem claimed Pretti “committed an act of domestic terrorism.”

Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said at a news conference Saturday that Pretti appeared to want to “massacre” law enforcement officers.

Bovino said a person approached agents with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and agents “attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted.”

“Fearing for his life … a Border Patrol agent opened defensive fire,” Bovino added.

However, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz strongly opposed this statement on the grounds that it was a “lie”.

“I’ve seen the video from several angles and it’s sickening,” he said.

“Thank God, thank God, we have video because according to DHS, these seven heroic men were attacked by a battalion against them or something. That’s bullshit, folks. That’s bullshit and lies,” he said at a press conference.

“The President must end this operation,” he said in his post on social media. “Remove thousands of violent, untrained officers from Minnesota. Now.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also called for ICE agents to leave the state.

“How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or be seriously injured before this operation ends?”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man killed was a legal gun owner with no criminal record other than traffic violations.

Republican senator Bill Cassidy called the events in Minneapolis “incredibly disturbing.”

In a post on social media, he said the “credibility” of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security was at stake.

“There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”

The latest shooting comes after weeks of tensions between Minnesota authorities, federal immigration officials and protesters who took to the streets to observe the agents.

President Donald Trump said local and state officials “incited the riot” and claimed, without evidence, that local police abrogated their duty to protect federal immigration officers at the scene of the shooting.

Earlier this month, An ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Goodduring an enforcement action that triggered widespread protests and precipitated political backlash against the federal operation.

Many state leaders said Good volunteered as a legal observer of ICE activities, but the Trump administration called him a “domestic terrorist.”

The deployment of federal agents to Minneapolis follows President Trump’s promise to oversee the largest deportation operation of undocumented immigrants in history.

ICE agents have the authority to stop, detain, and arrest anyone they suspect is in the United States illegally.

Minnesota is home to the largest community of Somali immigrants in the United States.

Trump launched a crackdown on immigrants in December after some Somali immigrants were found guilty of massive fraud in government welfare programs.

Mayor Frey has previously described federal ICE agents as “an occupying force that is literally occupying our city.”

Pretti’s family said he participated in citywide “observation protests” disturbed by Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.

Observers follow ICE officers, in some cases filming them and alerting residents to their presence.