MN - Alex Pretti dead after Minneapolis shooting involving immigration agents, US media report, January 24, 2026

[otto]

People have the right to peacefully protest in support of their First Amendment rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution on the streets of their own city.

I cannot tell them what to do. I don’t live in such cold and don’t see ICE on my streets.

Thank you for letting me know. OK, it is an official photo then.

But still - a photo of Mr. Alex Pretti, a civilian kicking a car a week ago has nothing to do with Mr. Pretty being attacked and executed by the unnamed border patrol agents led into Minneapolis by Greg Bovino, whose “commander at large of the Border Patrol” rank had no official statutory basis with DHS.

The link is to a video, not a photo. The civilian is "yelling at the officers and kicking out a car's taillight." The video was released by an independent media organization.

This video was linked in response to a question posed upthread - should events leading up to the shooting be considered in the interpretation the shooting. I gave no answer to that question.

Beelden opgedoken van eerdere confrontatie tussen Alex Pretti en agenten, dagen voor dood

Op de beelden is te zien hoe Pretti schreeuwt naar de agenten en een achterlicht van een auto kapot trapt.

nos.nl

 

[erratum]

When it is suggested that a Nurse, or anyone, not attend to a women shoved to the ground and instead needs to walk away to avoid immediate death from government agents this is no longer America.


all imo

Not just your "o" but mine as well.

Were this anyone without a badge, the conversation here would simply be waiting for the trial. Since when did a badge give the right to summery execution? imo

 

[marloweclover]

It is my opinion that the video from the week before could very well play in to a potential legal case as per Barnes v. Felix referenced and linked in an earlier post of mine.

Imo, if you read the full opinion in Barnes, the question is between the standard of "moment of threat" vs. "totality of circumstances." The court chooses totality in  Barnes. However, all the case citations on which the opinion relies refer to totality within the incident at hand. They do not extend totality to include other, prior incidents.

 

[Strangeworld]

Possibly, possibly.

Then again, could the real brains behind these protests be manipulating the gulliable into risking their lives ala:

- These protests need to go to the next level. Hey- legally arm yourself. Maybe start spitting at officers. When that does not get a reaction, kick out the tail light of the car. Eventually..... something might happen....

That sounds more like a description of the 2021 attack on the Capitol does it not?

 

[Charlot123]

None of the January 06 protesters are heroes to me,

I don’t think highly of them at all.

However, the irony: their protest itself was also their right protected by the First Amendment. As long as it did not turn violent. But it did turn seriously violent, and that opened the route to prosecute them. But openly and legally as it was done. IMHO.

 

[JennieM]

My opinion, he inserted himself when he went to grab the woman who was on the ground. If that's not inserting oneself into a situation I don't know what is. Had he turned and walked away my opinion is he would be alive today.

If helping a fellow human being off the ground is not allowed anymore, it’s surely a sad world we live in.

 

[JennieM]

25 min ago

Frey says “a common sense of humanity” not just protocol was violated in Pretti’s killing​

From CNN's Michael Williams

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the killing of Alex Pretti was not just a potential violation of protocol – but a violation of basic humanity.

“Well, it’s not just protocol that was violated,” Frey said during a CNN town hall tonight. “It’s a common sense of humanity. You have a person that was trying to help someone else, that was tackled to the ground. He was not a threat to anyone else and fired upon by multiple agents.”
Frey’s comments came after he was asked to respond to White House immigration policy architect Stephen Miller indicating that Border Patrol policy may have been breached during Pretti’s killing. Miller initially claimed that Pretti may have intended to assassinate police officers – a position that the administration walked back after video of the interaction between Pretti and law enforcement seemed to contradict that claim.

“It’s awful,” Frey said. “I mean, I’ll just ask a simple question: If all of those agents were not wearing a uniform, what would we call that?”

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-ice-trump-01-28-26?post-id=cmkypbi6300003b6p4xswulnl&t=1769651632396

“It’s awful,” Frey said. “I mean, I’ll just ask a simple question: If all of those agents were not wearing a uniform, what would we call that?”

 

[303gmf]

His parents were worried about him. They told him not to engage or do anything stupid. I wonder if this conversation came after the first encounter. imo

The parents were aware that Pretti planned to protest and had discussed it with him in a previous conversation.

“We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael told the AP.

MSN

And?
I worry about my nephew, as well as myself while out observing our millions of taxpayer dollars spent terrorizing humans in our communities

 

[Strangeworld]

There is video from an earlier protest (days before Alex was killed) showing him yelling at agents, spitting toward them, and damaging a federal vehicle. If that’s accurate, then yes — that behavior could have led to an arrest. I don't understand why Alex was not arrested, honestly.

But that does NOT justify what happened later. The shooting is a completely different situation. What Alex did 11 days ago DOES NOT justify his shooting.

The shooting was a completely separate incident.

From what I see in the footage from the day Alex was killed, he was on the ground, on his stomach, and being physically restrained by multiple ICE agents when the shots were fired. His legally carried weapon had already been removed. Even if agents believed he might have had another weapon, he was in no position to reach it.

As I understand law-enforcement use-of-force standards, deadly force is only justified if someone poses an immediate threat to officers or the public.

Yes, the agents may have been in fear for their lives. But that’s exactly when training is supposed to kick in. Officers are trained to assess a situation and control it without killing someone who is already on the ground and restrained — even in high-stress moments.

So my question is this:
Even if Alex had another weapon on him, can everyone see what I’m seeing — that at the moment shots were fired, he appeared to be fully restrained and incapacitated?

100% agree.

And how reckless was it for shots to be fired when multiple ICE agents were on top of him? It actually wasn't just Alex at risk, the shots fired risked the lives of their fellow agents too. I wonder how confident other agents would be working a shift with someone trigger happy like that?

 

[Hexe]

My opinion, he inserted himself when he went to grab the woman who was on the ground. If that's not inserting oneself into a situation I don't know what is. Had he turned and walked away my opinion is he would be alive today.

That woman was another protester, not a subject of the investigation of the agents.

Helping other people to get up is not a crime and I would be grateful to have it explained how did it interfere with the agent's official duties.

MOO

 

[Strangeworld]

When it is suggested that a Nurse, or anyone, not attend to a women shoved to the ground and instead needs to walk away to avoid immediate death from government agents this is no longer America.


all imo

And it is reinforcing the authoritarian structure the government is trying to create, and succeeding in some ways. Behave and all will be good

 

[Charlot123]

The link is to a video, not a photo. The civilian is "yelling at the officers and kicking out a car's taillight." The video was released by an independent media organization.

This video was linked in response to a question posed upthread - should events leading up to the shooting be considered in the interpretation the shooting. I gave no answer to that question.

Beelden opgedoken van eerdere confrontatie tussen Alex Pretti en agenten, dagen voor dood

Op de beelden is te zien hoe Pretti schreeuwt naar de agenten en een achterlicht van een auto kapot trapt.

nos.nl

We can offer interpretations.

The question is about the legality, though.

Here is what ICE agents do to cars. Note: this is a US citizen, so obviously they had no warrants for his arrest and just profiled him. He is ethically Mexican, US citizen and voted for Trump.

Who paid him for the car repair and unlawful arrest?

Can the way ICE treat the cars be even compared to what Alex did?

But again, we may have different opinions, we are talking about the legal side of the situation.

 

[erratum]

“It’s awful,” Frey said. “I mean, I’ll just ask a simple question: If all of those agents were not wearing a uniform, what would we call that?”

This. Exactly this.

"Some of those that work forces / Are the same that burn crosses,"
- Rage Against the Machine 1992

 

[Summerliz03]

My opinion, had the agents ignored Alex and walked away after losing their target, instead of approaching bystanders and pushing them to the ground, he would still be alive today.

My opinion is law enforcement is taught not to escalate situations by not using force against people who are not under arrest. But these officers did the opposite of that. I can’t help but wonder why that is.

 

[JennieM]

Trump compared Minnesota to Venezuela, says Minnesota governor​

IMAGE SOURCE, EPA

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says US President Donald Trump compared the immigration operation in Minneapolis to the military operation in Venezuela during a recent conversation.

Walz has told US news channel MS Now that Trump had asked him "what's wrong with you people" whilst noting there hadn't been any issues with immigration operations in Louisville and New Orleans.

The Minnesota governor says he pointed out that nobody had been killed in those cities - arguing that the operation looks very different in his state. He says Trump responded by saying "it was successful in Venezuela".

"He told me how well that went," the governor adds. "What's strange to me was, he saw an operation in Venezuela against a foreign nation in the same context he saw an operation against a US state and a US city."

Walz has also said that in his conversations with the White House and with Tom Homan, "not once" had they mentioned Alex Pretti or Renne Good by name "or ask how the people of Minnesota are doing".

Live: Tom Homan says Minnesota operation will be 'safer, by the book'

Tom Homan has been deployed after two people were shot dead by federal agents in the city in less than a month.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Strangeworld]

My opinion is law enforcement is taught not to escalate situations by not using force against people who are not under arrest. But these officers did the opposite of that. I can’t help but wonder why that is.

Exactly, and even if they are arresting someone. The least force the better.

But I guess it begs the question, what did their training teach them? What were they told formally and informally about how to conduct themselves?

 

[JennieM]

Minneapolis mayor to call for end of ICE operation at DC conference​

Shortly, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will call for the end of immigration enforcement operations in his city at a mayors' conference in Washington DC.

Before his trip he said in a statement, "Minneapolis may be where we've seen one of the largest ICE deployment in the country, but it will not be the last if we fail to act."

"I'm going to Washington to make the case for ending this strategy and replacing it with approaches that build trust, improve safety, and put our residents first."

Asked separately to respond comments from Trump's border tsar about a potential reduction in ICE forces in Minneapolis, Frey's office says: "Any draw down of ICE agents is a step in the right direction — but my ask remains the same: Operation Metro Surge must end."

Frey is slated to speak at the United States Conference of Mayors from 13:40 local time (18:40 GMT) - we'll bring you the key lines here.

Minneapolis mayor begins Washington address​

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has just taken the stage at the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington DC.

Mayors now defenders of republic and democracy, says Frey​

Frey begins his speech by expressing thanks for the support shown across the US.

He says it's "heartwarming" to be with his fellow mayors in DC.

"We are now becoming defenders of our republic and the defenders of democracy."

Live: Tom Homan says Minnesota operation will be 'safer, by the book'

Tom Homan has been deployed after two people were shot dead by federal agents in the city in less than a month.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

'If we do not speak up - it will be your city next'
​

Frey says he didn't become mayor to "get into the business of defending democracy" but says Minneapolis is now on "the frontlines of a very important battle".

In a plea to the mayors gathered, Frey adds: "If we do not speak up, if we do not step out - it will be your city that is next."

Mayor says people 'indiscriminately' pulled off street​

The situation in Minneapolis is as bad as it looks on the news, says Frey as he continues his speech.

He says there are between 3,000 and 4,000 federal agents in the city, far outnumbering the 600 local police officers.

"People have been indiscriminately pulled off the street," he says. "American citizens have been yanked away from their homes after that solely because they look like they are from Mexico or Ecuador or Somalia."

"That's not how we operate in America.

"In America, we have these foundational principles of law. We abide by our constitution. The rule of law is not just something that you say, but it is something that we practice each and every day."

Frey: Minneapolis made less safe by 'roving band of agents'​

Minneapolis is a safe city, Frey continues. But it's less safe when "roving bands of agents" - in reference to the ICE forces in Minneapolis - make families scared to go to school or the shops.

"Everybody is concerned," he adds.

ICE operations about 'silencing a narrative that differs from administration's'
​

To a swell of applause in the audience, Frey says the ICE operation "needs to end" - not just in Minneapolis but "nationwide".

This isn't about safety or immigration, he says, but "silencing a narrative that differs from the administration's".

Live: Tom Homan says Minnesota operation will be 'safer, by the book'

Tom Homan has been deployed after two people were shot dead by federal agents in the city in less than a month.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

Minneapolis mayor decries DOJ investigation into Minnesota officials​

The Minneapolis mayor says the federal government has enormous power - one that far outweighs that of city authorities.

He says the federal government is demanding voter registration information in order to end what he calls a "siege" on Minneapolis.

He also decries what he sees as the justice department using investigations into him and others as a weapon.

Frey says it's not because they have done anything wrong, but because they are doing their job to speak on behalf of residents.

• For context: The US justice department has issued subpoenas to Democratic Minnesota officials, alleging they conspired to impede federal immigration officers in the state

'This is an opportunity to stand up for the liberties the US holds dear'
​

This is an opportunity to be a patriot and stand up for the liberties that the US holds dear, Frey says.

"As a nation of immigrants, it should not matter where you are from."

The Trump administration is attempting to "force nationwide outcomes on localised issues, leaving our own citizens as collateral damage", Frey says.

'We cannot back down'
​

This a moment "where we all have to stand together", Frey says in the concluding lines of his speech.

"This is more important than being a Democrat or a Republican," he says.

"We cannot back down," he tells the mayors gathered, adding it is them that will "hold this democracy together".

As he departs the stage, he's given a standing ovation.

Live: Tom Homan says Minnesota operation will be 'safer, by the book'

Tom Homan has been deployed after two people were shot dead by federal agents in the city in less than a month.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Summerliz03]

The woman who filmed the video from inside her white car, right in front of where Alex was shot, has spoken out. She has some interesting things to say about ICE’s escalation and intimidation tactics.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/28/us/video/townhall-anderson-kayla-schultz-alex-pretti-witness-video