The family of Alex Pretti has strongly condemned the federal justification for the shooting, describing it as “reprehensible and disgusting.” This sentiment echoes the growing community frustration and calls for accountability and transparency from federal entities.
The competing comments emerged as local leaders and Democrats across the country demanded federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after Pretti’s shooting, which set off clashes with protesters in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.
Video contradicts administration statements
Video shot by bystanders and reviewed by The Associated Press appears to contradict statements by President Donald Trump’s administration, which said agents fired “defensively” against Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, as he approached them.
Pretti can be seen with only a phone in his hand as he steps between an immigration agent and a woman on the street. No footage appears to show him with a weapon. During the scuffle, agents appear to disarm him after discovering that he was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, and then opened fire several times. Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
In the hours after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Bovino said he wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”
Bovino was more restrained Sunday, saying he would not speculate about the shooting and that he planned to wait for the investigation.
Relatives say they are heartbroken
Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities. Relatives were 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.”
Video: Fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. This video may be alarming to some; viewers discretion is advised.
Walz was practically shouting in his closing remarks, denouncing as “despicable beyond all description” the comments that federal officials made about Pretti.
“And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control,” he said.
The White House kept up its attacks on the governor, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt posting on X that Walz “does NOT believe in law and order” and accusing him of encouraging “left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers in the middle of lawful operations.”
People gather during a vigil for 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer earlier in the day, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray) Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.
Federal officials, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, have thwarted local attempts to participate.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates police shootings, told reporters Saturday that federal officers had blocked his agency from the scene of the shooting even after it obtained a signed judicial warrant. Bureau ureau officers were working at the scene Sunday morning.
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.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the lawsuit, saying claims that the federal government would destroy evidence are “a ridiculous attempt to divide the American people and distract from the fact that our law enforcement officers were attacked — and their lives were threatened.”
The Minnesota National Guard temporarily assisted local police at Walz’s direction, officials said, with troops sent to the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off daily with demonstrators.
But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Sunday morning on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that “it’s back to just the Minneapolis police responding to calls.”
No evidence that Pretti brandished gun
O’Hara said he had seen no evidence that Pretti brandished the pistol, and that the crackdown was exhausting his department.
“This is taking an enormous toll, trying to manage all this chaos on top of having to be the police department for a major city. It’s too much,” he said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding that federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota.
In a statement, former President Barack Obama called Pretti’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy” and warned that “many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”
He urged the White House to work with city and state officials.
“This has to stop,” Obama said.
Federal officials have repeatedly questioned why Pretti was armed during the confrontation. But gun rights groups noted that 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.”
Video footage shows pushing and then shooting
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 force Pretti to the ground. Several officers try to bring his arms behind his back as he appears to resist. An officer holding a canister strikes him near his head several times.
A first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back. Multiple officers back off. Within seconds, Pretti is motionless on the street.
More Republicans call for investigation after fatal shooting
A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after Saturday’s fatal shooting, a sign that the accounting of events by President Donald Trump’s administration may face bipartisan scrutiny.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement that he takes oversight of the Department of Homeland Security seriously and that “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”
That call was echoed by the committee’s former chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, along with Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.
The killing has raised uncomfortable questions about the GOP’s core positions on issues ranging from gun ownership to states’ rights and trust in the federal government.
Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said in a social media post that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” He, too, was pushing for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”
Administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration enforcement tactics in the Minnesota city, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. Many Republicans either echoed that sentiment or stayed silent. Trump made no public appearances Sunday, though issued a number of social media posts on topics including the ballroom he is constructing at the White House and further criticism of Canada.
Protests continue
Demonstrations broke out in several cities across the country after the shooting, including New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, protesters converged in the neighborhood where Pretti had been shot despite dangerously cold weather with temperatures around minus 6 degrees.
An angry crowd screamed profanities at federal officers after the shooting, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. Protesters dragged large garbage bins from alleyways to block streets, lighting at least one on fire.
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.
By morning, the scene was calm.
Brett Williams, 37, came from the city’s suburbs to a morning vigil at the scene.
“I stand in solidarity with a brother whose life was taken too soon,” he said. “He’s standing up for immigrants. We’re all immigrants.”
