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Two federal officers fired shots during the encounter that killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official told Congress in a notice sent Tuesday.
Officers tried to take Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle, according to a notification to Congress obtained by The Associated Press. During the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, “He’s got a gun!” multiple times, the official said.
A Border Patrol agent and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, the notice said. (The U.S. Border Patrol is a federal agency under CBP.)
Investigators from CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency documentation, the notice said. The law requires the agency to inform relevant congressional committees about deaths in CBP custody within 72 hours.
The notification came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered border czar Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota following Pretti’s death, which was the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis this month of a person at the hands of federal law enforcement.
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ICE agents try to enter Ecuador’s consulate
Ecuador’s minister of foreign affairs, meanwhile, filed a protest with the U.S. Embassy after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents tried to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis without permission Tuesday.
A video of the attempt on social media shows a consulate staffer running to the door to turn the ICE agents away, telling them, “This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” One ICE officer can be heard responding by threatening to “grab” the staffer if he touched the agent before agreeing to leave.
International law generally prohibits law enforcement authorities from entering foreign consulates or embassies without permission, though sometimes permission may be assumed granted for life-threatening emergencies, like fires.
“Consulate officials immediately prevented the ICE officer from entering the consular building, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were present at the time and activating the emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility,” the ministry wrote on X.
A “note of protest” was filed with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador so that similar attempts aren’t made at other consulates, the ministry said. The State Department, Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to the AP’s requests for comment.