Angelenos took to the streets on Saturday to protest federal immigration actions with renewed fervor after the killing of an ICU nurse in Minneapolis earlier in the day.
Alex J. Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents during a protest, prompting rallies nationwide, including in Boyle Heights and downtown Los Angeles.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other members of the Trump administration have claimed Pretti, who was armed, was a threat to federal agents. She also blamed “hateful rhetoric from Minnesota’s sanctuary politicians.”
“During the operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun,” Noem said. “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”
Protesters against federal immigration raids gathered in Boyle Heights on Jan. 24, 2026. (KTLA)
People gather at the site where a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
A protester is pepper sprayed at close range while being detained near the site of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ellen Schmidt/MinnPost via AP)
This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti, the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Michael Pretti via AP)
Analysis of videos taken by those at the scene indicates Pretti was armed, but he did not draw the weapon, and when he was shot, federal agents had already disarmed him.
In a statement, Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said they’re “heartbroken but also very angry” and asked journalists to “please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. “
“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” the statement said. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
“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 shooting prompted protests in Minnesota and nationwide, as well as responses from numerous Southern California officials like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who took to social media to condemn the federal agents and remind the public that Los Angeles was another site of a civilian’s killing.
“We cannot become numb to this, to the deaths of Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles, Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of heavily armed and poorly trained ICE agents,” Bass said. “When basic rights are violated in one community, the damage does not stay contained; it erodes safety and justice for all of us.”
Bass added that “just hours ago, ICE conducted raids in South L.A., taking away working Angelenos, tearing families apart.”
“The threat to our communities by ICE is current, and it is ongoing … We must hold this administration accountable and demand that these massive and unnecessary deployments of ICE agents into our cities stop now,” she said. “To every Angeleno: you have the right to peacefully organize and defiantly resist. Protest is powerful, and that is why it is being targeted. We cannot play into this administration’s hands and give them an opportunity to militarize our streets.
“Please be safe and look out for one another. We will stay united on the right side of history.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which is helmed by Noem and includes the agents involved in Pretti’s killing, will lead the investigation, with the FBI assisting, CNN reports.
Mitzi Vazquez contributed to this report.
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