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Donald Trump has released a list of requests to Minnesota leaders, demanding that they cooperate “to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”
In a lengthy post addressed to Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey Sunday night, the president ordered state authorities to turn over “all illegal aliens” and partner with federal authorities to further the immigration crackdown.
Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama said the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis should be a “wake-up call to every American” as the nation’s “core values are increasingly under assault.”
Bill Clinton warned that it was a historic moment for the country that would influence its future for decades, urging citizens to raise their voices and “show that our nation still belongs to We the people”.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, became the second protester in Minneapolis to be shot and killed in less than three weeks, after a federal agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, earlier this month.
Pretti’s family has denounced the Trump administration’s “sickening lies” about the shooting.
Judge set to hear arguments on Minnesota’s immigration crackdown after fatal shootings
A federal judge will hear arguments on Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer.
Saturday’s shooting by a Border Patrol officer of Alex Pretti has only added urgency to the case.
Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request. They’re trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on 1 December.
Protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 January 2026 (AFP via Getty Images)
The hearing is set for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend.
They’re asking that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Menendez order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.
Justice Department attorneys have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said “Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement”.
They asked the judge to reject the request or at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal.
Ellison said at a news conference Sunday that he and the cities filed their lawsuit because of “the unprecedented nature of this of this surge. It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that we’re looking at right now. No one can remember a time when we’ve seen something like this.
“It wasn’t clear ahead of the hearing when the judge might rule.
Namita Singh26 January 2026 06:22
Videos show Pretti holding a cellphone
None of the half-dozen bystander videos shows Pretti brandishing his gun. Rather, the videos showed Pretti’s hands were only holding his mobile phone as a masked Border Patrol officer opened fire.
In videos of the scuffle, “gun, gun” is heard, and an officer appears to pull a handgun from Pretti’s waist area and begins moving away. As that happens, a first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back.
Several use-of-force experts said that unenhanced video clips alone would neither exonerate nor support prosecution of the officers, underscoring the need for a thorough investigation.
A key piece of evidence will likely be the video from the phone Pretti was holding when he was killed. Federal officials have not yet released that footage or shared it with state investigators.
“The evaluation of the reasonableness of this shooting will entirely depend on when the pistol became visible and how, if at all, it was being displayed or used,” said Charles “Joe” Key, a former police lieutenant and longtime use-of-force expert.
Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, described the federal government’s response as “amateur hour.”
“Jumping to the end result of this investigation, or what’s supposed to be an investigation, is somewhat embarrassing for policing professionals nationwide,” Mr Adams said. “It’s clear that professionals in policing are observing what’s going on and not liking what they’re seeing.”
Namita Singh26 January 2026 06:06
Minnesota official says state investigators blocked from shooting scene
In the hours after Alex Pretti’s shooting, Minnesota authorities obtained a search warrant granting them access to the shooting scene. Drew Evans, superintendent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said his team was blocked from the scene.
Minnesota authorities also received an emergency court order from a federal judge barring officials “from destroying or altering evidence related to the fatal shooting involving federal officers.”
Border Patrol senior official Greg Bovino sounded a less strident tone at a Sunday news conference, calling Pretti’s shooting a “tragedy that was preventable” even as he urged people not to “interfere, obstruct, delay or assault law enforcement”.
US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino holds a canister munition during an operation to detain a man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 8 January 2026 (AFP via Getty Images)
He refused to comment on what he called the “freeze-frame concept,” referring to videos circulating on social media that raise doubts about the dangers Pretti posed to officers.
“That, folks, is why we have something called an investigation,” Bovino said. “I wasn’t there wrestling him myself. So I’m not going to speculate. I’m going to wait for that investigation.”
Policing experts said the irregularities in the federal response went beyond the government’s immediate defense. Before Pretti’s parents had even been notified of his death, DHS posted a photograph on X of a 9mm Sig Sauer semiautomatic handgun seized during the scuffle, portraying the weapon as justification for the killing.
“The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID,” the post said. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage.”
However, the photo showed only one loaded magazine lying next to the pistol, which had apparently been emptied and displayed on the seat of a vehicle.
Minnesota state officials said that, by removing the weapon from the scene, Border Patrol officers likely mishandled key evidence.
Namita Singh26 January 2026 05:54
Criticism after Stephen Miller labels Pretti a ‘would-be assassin’
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller generated outrage by describing Pretti as “a would-be assassin” in a post, while a top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, drew the ire of the National Rifle Association for posting that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
“In a country that has more guns than people, the mere possession of a weapon does not establish an imminent threat to officers – and neither does having a weapon and approaching officers,” said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and use-of-force expert.
“I don’t think there’s any evidence to confirm the official narrative at all. It’s not unlawful for someone to carry a weapon in Minnesota.”
Namita Singh26 January 2026 05:45
Experts say video of shooting undermines federal claims
While questions remained about the latest confrontation, use-of-force experts told the Associated Press that bystander video undermined federal authorities’ claim that Alex Pretti “approached” a group of lawmen with a firearm and that a Border Patrol officer opened fire “defensively”.
There has been no evidence made public, they said, that supports a claim by Border Patrol senior official Greg Bovino that Pretti, who had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, intended to “massacre law enforcement”.
People pay their respects at a memorial site for Alex Pretti on 25 January 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Getty Images)
“It’s very baked into the culture of American policing to not criticize other law enforcement agencies,” said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and use-of-force expert who testified for prosecutors in the trial of the Minneapolis officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
“But behind the scenes, there is nothing but professional scorn for the way that DHS is handling the aftermath of these incidents,” Mr Stoughton said.
Namita Singh26 January 2026 05:39
International police chiefs association calls for White House discussion
Leaders of law enforcement organizations expressed alarm Sunday over the latest deadly shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis.
The federal government also faced criticism over the lack of a civil rights inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department and its efforts to block Minnesota authorities from conducting their own review of the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.
In a bid to ease tensions, the International Association of Chiefs of Police called on the White House to convene discussions “as soon as practicable” among federal, state and local law enforcement.
Federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, early on 24 January while scuffling with him on an icy roadway in Minneapolis, Minnesota (AFP via Getty Images)
“Every police chief in the country is watching Minneapolis very carefully,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a police research and policy organization.
“If a police chief had three officer-involved shootings in three weeks, they would be stepping back and asking, ‘What does our training look like? What does our policy look like?’”
Pretti’s death came on the heels of the 7 January fatal shooting of Renee Good and another incident a week later in Minneapolis when a federal officer shot a man in the leg after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle while attempting to arrest a Venezuelan who was in the country illegally.
“We’re dealing with a federal agency here,” Mr Wexler said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security, “but its actions can have a ripple effect across the entire country.”
Namita Singh26 January 2026 05:15
JD Vance weighs in on Minneapolis ‘madness’
Mike Bedigan26 January 2026 05:00
Former Democrat presidents release statements on Minneapolis shooting
Mike Bedigan26 January 2026 04:45
Clinton calls on Americans to ‘stand up’ as Republicans step up demands for inquiry
Bill Clinton has warned the United States is at a turning point that will influence its future for decades, urging citizens to raise their voices and “show that our nation still belongs to we the people”.
In a statement, the former president said he had witnessed “horrible scenes” in Minneapolis and other cities that he “never thought would take place in America”.
He pointed to instances in which peaceful demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights were “arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed”.
Mr Clinton’s statement, shared on X, went on to say:”All of this is unacceptable and should have been avoided. To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities.
“Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decision we make the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.
“It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the people.
Namita Singh26 January 2026 04:32
Watch: Minneapolis Police Chief says residents, department has ‘had enough’Minneapolis Police Chief says residents, department has ‘had enough’
Mike Bedigan26 January 2026 04:30