{"id":264166,"date":"2026-01-26T03:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T03:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/264166\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T03:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T03:44:15","slug":"obamas-say-alex-pretti-killing-a-tragedy-as-calls-mount-for-full-investigation-minneapolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/264166\/","title":{"rendered":"Obamas say Alex Pretti killing a \u2018tragedy\u2019 as calls mount for full investigation | Minneapolis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pressure mounted on Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s administration on Sunday to fully investigate the previous day\u2019s killing by federal immigration officers of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti<\/a> in Minneapolis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Calls for an investigation have come from all sides of the political divide after video analysis<\/a> showed officers had removed from Pretti a handgun he was reportedly permitted to carry \u2013 and which he was not handling \u2013 before fatally shooting him.<\/p>\n

Former president Barack Obama<\/a> and his wife, Michelle, called the killing \u201ca heartbreaking tragedy\u201d and \u201ca wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> released on Sunday, the Obamas said federal law enforcement and immigration agents were not operating in a lawful or accountable way in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor weeks now people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,\u201d they said. The former president and former first lady said these tactics had now resulted in the fatal shootings of two US citizens \u2013 Pretti and Renee Good<\/a>, both in Minneapolis. Yet, they said, Trump and other administration officials appeared eager to escalate the rhetoric before an investigation had been undertaken \u2013 and despite the fact that they \u201cappear to be directly contradicted by video evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Obamas called on Americans to support the wave of peaceful protests<\/a> in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n

Still image of a video of the moment when Alex Pretti\u2019s firearm is retrieved from waistband holster by a federal agent as another agent draws his weapon before Pretti was fatally shot. Photograph: Video Obtained By Reuters\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a timely reminder that ultimately it\u2019s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms and hold our government accountable,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Another former Democratic president, Bill Clinton<\/a>, followed with a statement<\/a> that also condemned the killings of Good and Pretti amid the \u201chorrible scenes\u201d of the immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this is unacceptable and should have been avoided,\u201d Clinton said. \u201cTo make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we\u2019ve seen with our own eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Republican US senator Bill Cassidy said the \u201ccredibility\u201d of ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were \u201cat stake\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be a full joint federal and state investigation,\u201d Cassidy wrote in a post on X<\/a>, after an ICE officer shot Good to death on 7 January and border patrol officers fatally shot Pretti on Saturday. \u201cWe can trust the American people with the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Democrat lawmakers, including US House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, both of New York, also issued calls for federal immigration authorities to leave Minnesota<\/a>. They urged Senate Democrats to vote against funding the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and border patrol, during budget negotiations in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Sunday morning, US senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Adam Schiff of California, both Democrats, said they would vote against the impending department of homeland security funding.<\/p>\n

People take part in a demonstration on Sunday, a day after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re killing two constituents in my state, and they\u2019re taking two-year-olds out of the arms of their mom, and they are taking an elder Hmong man out of his house and putting him out there in his underwear, and then figuring out they have the wrong man \u2026 no, I am not voting for this funding,\u201d Klobuchar told NBC\u2019s Meet the Press, alluding to incidents involving federal immigration agents that have drawn heavy media scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Schiff said he was \u201cnot giving ICE or border patrol another dime, given how this agency, these agencies are operating\u201d.<\/p>\n

Schumer, the Senate minority leader, first announced on Saturday that he and his fellow Democrats would not provide the necessary votes if DHS funding remains in the measure. A spokesperson for Senate majority leader John Thune said DHS and other government funds will be voted on as a single package. Without a compromise, the government faces a partial shutdown at the end of January.<\/p>\n

Schiff warned that a government shutdown would result if Republicans \u201cinsist\u201d on combining immigration enforcement funding with other government appropriations. \u201cIt will be a Republican decision,\u201d he said. \u201cThey understand we\u2019re not going to go along with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecticut US senator Chris Murphy, also a Democrat, told CNN\u2019s State of the Union that Democrats \u201ccan\u2019t vote to fund this lawless Department of Homeland Security \u2026 that is murdering American citizens, that is traumatizing little boys and girls all across the country, in violation of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

People gather on Sunday at a makeshift memorial at the site where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photograph: Tim Evans\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, told CNN that the confrontations in Minneapolis<\/a> was not about sanctuary cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis goes far beyond that,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is about a basically Stasi-type force of secret police that wear masks, that are unidentifiable, that are unaccountable, that have leadership in the Trump administration<\/a> blatantly lying about what\u2019s going on, when the American people can see the video.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pretti\u2019s parents, Michael and Susan, called for \u201cthe truth\u201d to be told about their son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are heartbroken but also very angry,\u201d they said. \u201cThe sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s statement came after US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem made the claim that Pretti brandished a gun before agents fired \u201cdefensive shots\u201d at him. None of the ubiquitous video evidence shows Pretti brandishing a gun.<\/p>\n

Klobuchar also said that the Trump administration had described the shooting, which is shown in several eyewitness videos circulating widely on social media, \u201cin ways that simply aren\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just keep thinking, your eyes don\u2019t lie,\u201d Klobuchar said. \u201cLaw enforcement is based on trust, and we have had a total breakdown of trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called for a \u201ctransparent\u201d investigation into the shooting and called for the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement agents to leave Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, told Meet the Press that \u201cthere\u2019s obviously an investigation that\u2019s ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Noem talked about that yesterday, which is what we would expect anytime a tragedy like this occurs,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n

But he disagreed with the premise that the videos of the encounter told the whole story. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what happened in the minutes leading up to what we just watched. We don\u2019t know what ICE saw, what ICE heard,\u201d Blanche said of Pretti\u2019s killing by federal agents. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the investigation that\u2019s going to be happening.<\/p>\n

Officers from Minnesota\u2019s bureau of criminal apprehension (BCA) at the scene on Sunday where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents on Saturday, in Minneapolis. Photograph: Adam Gray\/AP<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a violent interaction with the man who was shot. And so we don\u2019t know. No matter how many times you look at it, no matter how many different angles that we see, there\u2019s a lot that we don\u2019t see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche re-iterated the government\u2019s position that the anti-immigration enforcement protesters were not peaceful. \u201cThey are trying to impede and obstruct ICE, and it makes the job that our men and women have to do virtually impossible to do without interactions like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But, alluding to Minnesota governor Tim Walz and his fellow Democrat Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, Blanche added: \u201cMake no mistake about it. This was entirely avoidable if we had a governor, if we had a mayor, if we had leadership in Washington and over in Minnesota that actually cared about their citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Border patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino was asked why federal agents shot and killed Pretti.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know he was unarmed,\u201d Bovino told CNN\u2019s Dana Bash. \u201cI don\u2019t know he was unarmed. That\u2019s freeze-frame adjudication of a crime scene via a photo. That\u2019s why we have investigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facts are going to come to light as to what exactly happened with an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked by Bash whether he was blaming the victim, he said, \u201cThe victims are the border [atrol agents.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a Sunday afternoon press conference, Bovino was asked about the videos that show Pretti was unarmed before being shot and killed. He said there are, \u201cMany videos out there, many different accounts that you may see that I may see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFolks, this is why we have something called an investigation, to take what you\u2019re talking about, to take those videos, to take witness statements, to take, officer statements, all those minute details that will paint a true picture, not a freeze frame concept, and paint a larger picture of what really happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why we investigate, so we can get to the truth, so there\u2019s not speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that they still don\u2019t know how many shots were fired. And he said \u201call agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis, but in other locations that\u2019s for their safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

A man leads the crowd in the Pledge Of Allegiance at a makeshift memorial for Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Sunday. Photograph: Craig Lassig\/EPA<\/p>\n

Bovino had pushed that the operation in Minneapolis had really been about targeting Jose Huerta-Chuma, someone they described as an undocumented immigrant who needed to be taken off the streets. He said Huerta-Chuma was in the process of being taken into custody when \u201cagitators, rioters and anarchists\u201d prevented the arrest.<\/p>\n

But Minnesota\u2019s Department of Corrections (DOC) contradicted Bovino\u2019s characterization of Huerta-Chuma as having a \u201csignificant criminal history\u201d. According to DOC records and Minnesota court data, the individual identified by federal officials has never been in the state\u2019s custody and has no felony commitments.<\/p>\n

DOC records also indicated that someone with Huerta-Chuma\u2019s name was previously held in federal immigration custody in a local Minnesota jail in 2018, during Trump\u2019s first presidency. The decision to release him from federal custody would have been made by Trump administration officials. DOC said it had no information explaining why Huerta-Chuma was released. And Bovino had no explanation when asked by a reporter on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He instead remarked about Pretti, saying: \u201cWhen someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene, interfere, obstruct, delay or assault a law enforcement officer, and they bring a weapon to that, that is a choice that individual made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Makeshift memorial at the site where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents, in Minneapolis. Photograph: Tim Evans\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Republican US senator Lindsey Graham also took the line that \u201can armed man trying to impede a lawful arrest is a recipe for disaster\u201d. The South Carolina Republican said he expects law enforcement officers to use good judgement \u201cbut not to foolishly risk their lives or the lives of others\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go to such events with a loaded gun, bad things can happen,\u201d Graham added, though it is legal in Minnesota to possess guns in public places with a permit. Permit holders who don\u2019t have both the document and a license on them can face a misdemeanor $25 fine.<\/p>\n

Late Saturday, a federal judge issued an order blocking the Trump administration from \u201cdestroying or altering evidence\u201d related to Pretti\u2019s killing, after Minnesota officials sued DHS.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, said the suit demanded \u201ca full, impartial, and transparent investigation into [Pretti\u2019s] fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents [that] is non-negotiable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Minneapolis police chief Brian O\u2019Hara, meanwhile, said information about what led up to the shooting was limited. As protests erupted in Minneapolis on Saturday, federal officers impeded state investigators from accessing the scene of Pretti\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

Trump responded to Pretti\u2019s shooting with his typical combativeness. The Republican president accused Walz and Frey of \u201cinciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vice-President JD Vance for his part claimed events in Minneapolis were \u201cengineered chaos\u201d resulting from \u201cfar-left agitators, working with local authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n

ICE and border patrols officials were scheduled to hold a news briefing early Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pressure mounted on Donald Trump\u2019s administration on Sunday to fully investigate the previous day\u2019s killing by federal immigration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-264166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}