Overview
- Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and lawful gun owner, was shot dead by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a Saturday immigration operation on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.
- DHS says Pretti approached agents with a handgun and violently resisted, but multiple bystander videos and a Washington Post analysis indicate agents removed a gun from his waistband moments before shots were fired.
- A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring destruction or alteration of evidence, with Minnesota’s BCA and Hennepin County seeking oversight and a hearing set for Monday in St. Paul.
- Protests spread from Minneapolis to other U.S. cities as the Minnesota National Guard assisted local police, and state officials said federal officers blocked their investigators from the scene.
- Political fallout intensified as Governor Tim Walz demanded a state-led probe, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer threatened to withhold DHS funding before a Jan. 30 deadline, and some Republicans called for a joint federal–state investigation.