After a federal immigration officer fatally shot an intensive care unit nurse in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, California elected officials condemned what they described as a pattern of violent force used by immigration agents.<\/p>\n
A Border Patrol officer killed Alex Pretti during an encounter in Minneapolis, just over a mile away from where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Good, 37, in a separate incident earlier this month that sparked widespread protests.<\/p>\n
Pretti’s death again drew demonstrators into the streets and spurred outrage from Democratic elected officials, even as Trump administration officials claimed that the shots were defensive and painted\u00a0Pretti as a violent resister with a handgun. Bystander videos of the shooting appear to show\u00a0Pretti with a phone in his hand – and not with a visible weapon. The\u00a0New York Times reported<\/a> that “an agent had already removed Mr. Pretti’s gun when two other agents opened fire, shooting him in the back and as he lay on the ground.”<\/p>\n Governor Gavin Newsom responded with a sweeping condemnation, posting a list of demands on X<\/a> that called for major changes to federal immigration enforcement. The governor demanded the resignations of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive crackdowns nationwide.<\/p>\n “No new funding,” Newsom said. “Suspend the LAWLESS mass deportation raids nationwide NOW\u00a0– ICE is no longer just deporting dangerous criminals. Send the border patrol back to the border. End the militarization of ICE + the sick racial profiling.”<\/p>\n Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass<\/a> similarly called for an end to what she described as the “massive and unnecessary” deployment of ICE agents in American cities. She said the public cannot become numb to the violence and referenced Keith Porter’s death at the hands of an off-duty ICE agent<\/a> in Los Angeles. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that Porter was suspected to be an”active shooter.”<\/p>\n Porter’s family and attorney said he fired a gun into the air to celebrate the new year and posed no threat.<\/p>\n Bass said new immigration raids swept over Southern Los Angeles on Saturday and said “this continued federal escalation and intentional campaign of chaos and violence by our own government is a threat to every American.”<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff<\/a> also called for ICE agents to get out of cities.<\/p>\n California’s Republican representatives in Congress appeared to remain silent about the killing on X.<\/p>\n State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, called Pretti’s killing a murder and demanded prosecution.<\/p>\n “Trump’s untrained Gestapo thugs murdered an ICU nurse in cold blood\u00a0– a US citizen who worked at the VA & had no criminal record,” he wrote on X<\/a>. “They must be prosecuted. They must be accountable. The impunity must end.”<\/p>\n U.S. Sen Alex Padilla said he was horrified by the news of another death in Minneapolis and pledged to vote against any additional funding for ICE and CBP “while they act with such reckless disregard for life<\/a>, safety and the Constitution.”<\/p>\n Several Democratic Senators said they would seek to block the bill funding the Department of Homeland Security<\/a> after Saturday morning’s deadly confrontation.<\/p>\n Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a>, D-Fremont, described ICE as a “rogue, militarized police in our communities.”<\/p>\n “Democrats can’t vote for Laken Riley or tripled ICE budgets and pretend to be an opposition party,” Khanna wrote. “Tear it down & build a new agency.”<\/p>\n Retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi<\/a> called Pretti’s death “outrageous, shameful and indefensible.”<\/p>\n “There must be justice and accountability for this state violence masquerading as \u2018public safety,'” she said. “Enough.”<\/p>\n