Summary
A crowd has gathered in Minneapolis to protest against federal immigration enforcement, after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has renewed his call for President Trump to pull federal agents from his state, saying: “This is an inflection point, America”
In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said Walz and Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey should turn over for deportation all “criminal illegal aliens” who are incarcerated in state prisons and jails
State and federal officials have provided conflicting accounts of the moments prior to Pretti’s death on Saturday
Asked about the multiple videos which have emerged showing the shooting, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino says there needs to be an investigation to establish the facts
BBC Verify has analysed the Minneapolis shooting frame by frame
Pretti, a US citizen and nurse, has been described as a “kind-hearted soul” by his parents; they call for the “truth” about their son
Image caption, Dr Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association.
Dr Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), spoke to the BBC earlier and paid tribute to Alex Pretti, saying the organisation is “deeply saddened” by his death.
“Alex was taking care of our veterans, the people who served this country, he loved being nurse,” she said.
While Kennedy says she didn’t know Pretti personally, friends and family have described him as a “wonderful nurse” who was “following the code of ethics”.
“In the moments up to his killing, he was taking care of a person who had fallen. Unfortunately, that’s when people decided to kill him.”
What is a ‘sanctuary city’?published at 05:22
The term ‘sanctuary city’ is not a legal one, but is commonly used to describe places in the US that limit their assistance to federal immigration authorities.
Cities across the US have taken a variety of approaches to becoming ‘sanctuaries’, such as by setting policies in laws or simply changing local policing practices.
In his latest Truth social posts on the events in Minneapolis, Trump listed a series of requests that he said were “rooted in common sense”, most notably petitioning US Congress to end sanctuary cities, which he alleges are the cause of “all these problems”.
For example in Los Angeles, the city council passed a “sanctuary city” ordinance to bar the use of local resources for helping federal immigration authorities.
The Trump administration has taken action to curb these policies, including suing the city of Chicago saying some of its laws “interfere with and discriminate against” federal immigration policy.
In August, the Justice Department published a list of sanctuary jurisdictions, external that included the state of Minnesota, saying the locations on the list “put American citizens at risk by design”.
Alex Pretti’s alma mater mourns ‘tragic loss’published at 04:43
The University of Minnesota, from which Alex Pretti graduated in 2011, has issued a statement on his death, describing it as a “deeply painful time for our community”.
“He worked in a profession rooted in care, compassion and service,” the statement says.
“Our deepest sympathies are with Alex’s family, loved ones and all who are grieving his death”.
In the post on X, the university made a plea for “care for one another and a commitment to seek understanding and healing”.
Image source,Michael Pretti/APMinnesota prisons say federal agents giving ‘inaccurate information’ about man they were seekingpublished at 04:21
BreakingThe Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) has rebutted some of the claims made by Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and other federal officials when Alex Pretti was shot.
Bovino has said that immigration enforcement agents were seeking Jose Huerta Chuma during their “targeted” operation, and that Chuma’s criminal history includes domestic assault, intentional infliction of bodily harm and disorderly conduct.
The DOC in a statement says federal statements “have repeatedly included inaccurate information about Minnesota custody and criminal records”, prompting them to review available records to determine whether Chuma had any connection to Minnesota state prison custody.
Per the statement, the Minnesota DOC says:
- The individual identified by federal officials has never been in Minnesota DOC custody
- DOC and court records show no felony commitments associated with this
- Public Minnesota court records reflect only misdemeanor-level traffic offenses from more than a decade ago
- The individual is not currently under DOC supervision.
The DOC adds that their records also indicate the Huerta was previously held in federal immigration custody in a local Minnesota jail in 2018, noting that this was during President Trump’s first administration.
“Any decisions regarding release from federal custody at that time would have been made by federal authorities. DOC has no information explaining why this individual was released,” the statement says.
The DOC also pushed back on allegations that it does not cooperate with ICE to facilitate custody transfers for individuals subject to federal detainers.
“The inaccurate assertions of these high-level ICE officials are untrue, reckless, and contrary to longstanding practice,” the DOC says.
Here’s what we knowpublished at 04:12
Image source,EPAFederal officials and Minnesota state and city officials continue to clash over what happened in the scuffle that led to the fatal shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday. Here’s what we learned today:
- On Sunday, officials again offered duelling narratives about Pretti’s actions and handgun during simultaneous media conferences
- Lawmakers continue to be divided over the shooting, as well as Pretti’s 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was shot because he was “brandishing” a gun. Local authorities say the gun was legally registered, he was not brandishing it, and he was shot after the gun was removed.
- The federal agents involved in the shooting are still working but have been moved out of Minneapolis for their safety, according Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He declines to directly comment on what transpired in videos of the shooting
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz repeated his call to US President Donald Trump to pull “3,000 untrained agents” from the state. He called it “an inflection point” and scolded federal leadership for “smearing” Pretti
- Trump again accused Minnesota officials of being involved in “a criminal cover up” stemming from a financial fraud investigation in the state, without presenting evidence. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said “Walz wants chaos”
- Tributes for Pretti, along with demonstrations and protests, have resumed in Minneapolis. Our reporters there say the protests have been peaceful despite earlier clashes
- More than 60 Minnesota-based companies, including Target, Best Buy and 3M, have called for “de-escalation”
State authorities have worked with federal agencies for years, says Minneapolis police chiefpublished at 04:01
Image source,ReutersUS Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino yesterday accused Minnesota officials of hampering federal law enforcement operations.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara tells the BBC that all levels of law enforcment in Minnesota have been working with federal law enforcement “for several years”.
“We have actually gone after and prosecuted the people who actually are the worst of the worst” he said.
“What is happening today is destroying our ability to continue those investigations”, he says, and “it’s risking all of the progress we have made working together.”
Chief O’Hara says he knew many individual federal agents are “just as disheartened and as frustrated as we are at the way things are playing out.”
State officers were ‘refused’ from scene, says Minneapolis police chiefpublished at 03:42
“As soon as I heard that law enforcement were involved in another law enforcement related shooting, I immediately requested the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to respond to the scene” Chief O’Hara told the BBC
This agency investigates all police-related shootings in the state and were “refused access to the scene” by federal agents, he said.
After they secured a state search warrant, they “were yet again refused”.
Today, after the scene was cleared, “they returned today to canvass for evidence, canvass for witnesses” he said, adding “I do believe they actually did retrieve some evidence today and so that investigation on the state’s end will continue.”
Minneapolis Police Chief discusses Pretti’s gun permitpublished at 03:37
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has just been speaking to BBC News about the shooting of Alex Pretti.
He described how his officers “responded to a report of a shooting involving federal law enforcement” and “tried to secure the scene while first aid was being performed on Mr Pretti”.
O’Hara cited the first amendment when affirming Minnesotans are on firm legal footing when filming law enforcement operations but noted, “They cannot do so in a way that physically obstructs law enforcement from performing their function.”
He also spoke about Pretti’s right to carry a gun on the day he was shot, confirming that he had a permit that would allow him to do so.
“The only question would be was he carrying it for an unlawful purpose,” adding “other than that his actions are constitutionally protected.”
Trump says ‘at some point [ICE agents] will leave’ Minneapolispublished at 03:22
US President Donald Trump has signaled a willingness to eventually withdraw immigration enforcement officials from the Minneapolis area, telling the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Sunday, “At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job.” He did not indicate when this might happen.
Trump also said in the interview that his administration is “reviewing everything” about the fatal shooting of Alex Pretty in Minneapolis and “will come out with a determination”.
Republicans divided on Pretti’s shootingpublished at 03:06
Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporterThe killing of Alex Pretti is not only sparking outrage on the left – but it’s also dividing member’s of the president’s own party.
Some Republicans in Trump’s base are sounding the alarm on Pretti’s shooting by federal agents, saying it’s an example of the state infringing on an Americans’ right to bear arms.
The second amendment – or right to own firearms – has been a core issue for Republicans for decades.
“I unapologetically believe in border security and deporting criminal illegal aliens and I support law enforcement. However, I also unapologetically support the 2nd amendment. Legally carrying a firearm is not the same as brandishing a firearm,” said former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who used to be one of Trump’s most ardent supporters before splitting with him last year.
Remember: US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says Pretti was shot because he was “brandishing” a gun. Local authorities say the gun was legally registered, he was not brandishing it, and he was shot after the gun was removed.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie echoed that sentiment.
“Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government,” he wrote.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), a gun right lobbying group, spoke out against one US attorney’s characterisation that if someone approaches a federal agent with a gun, they will likely be shot.
“This sentiment from the First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong,” the NRA wrote on social media. “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
Tragedies in Minnesota fault of state and local officials, says Secretary of Veterans Affairspublished at 02:55
Image source,Getty ImagesDoug Collins, the US Secretary of Veterans Affairs, has confirmed that Alex Pretti was a nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center in a post to X.
“As President Trump has said, nobody wants to see chaos and death in American cities”, Collins wrote, but added that the “Such tragedies are unfortunately happening in Minnesota because of state and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with the federal government to enforce the law and deport dangerous illegal criminals.”
As a reminder, the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti follows weeks of unrest across the city of Minneapolis over activities of immigration and border enforcement officials deployed there.
Trump calls on Walz and Frey to ‘turn over Criminal Illegal Aliens incarcerated in State Prisons’ for deportationpublished at 02:44
BreakingIn a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump has called on Minnesotan Governor Tim Walz and Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey to “turn over all Criminal Illegal Aliens that are currently incarcerated in their State Prisons and Jails to Federal Authorities, along with all Illegal Criminals with an active warrant or known Criminal History, for Immediate Deportation.”
He also said Walz and Frey, as well as “EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States” must “formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence”.
He listed a series of requests that he says are “rooted in common sense”, most notably petitioning US Congress to end sanctuary cities, which he alleges are the cause of “all these problems”.
In the US, the term “sanctuary city” has been popular in the US for more than a decade to describe places that limit their assistance to federal immigration authorities.
Renee Good’s family law firm urges Americans to ‘trust their own eyes’ on Pretti videospublished at 02:30
Image source,ReutersLawyers for Renee Nicole Good – the 37-year-old woman fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on 7 January – have just issued a statement about the death of Alex Pretti, calling for “a hard reset” and for ICE agents to leave the state.
In a statement to CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, Good’s family law firm Romanucci & Blandin describe this weekend’s events in Minneapolis as “terrifying, deeply disturbing and heartbreaking”.
The firm lamented another US citizen dying “while taking part in the time-honored and Constitutionally protected activity of being present to observe and peacefully advocate for their beliefs”.
They urged all Americans to “trust their own eyes as they interpret the horrific video” of Pretti’s shooting and “for an absolute end to ICE activity in Minneapolis”.
“It has clearly gone too far and strayed far beyond its stated mission of removing criminal non-citizens from the country,” they said.
“It is time for a hard reset. ICE agents can leave Minneapolis. The residents of Minnesota cannot. We call for a complete and immediate end to the ICE invasion of this beautiful American city.”
Restaurant owner speaks of ‘fear and panic’ after staff arrested by agentspublished at 02:17
Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporterI’ve spoken to Richard (not his real name), who owns a restaurant where several staff members were arrested in recent weeks by immigration agents.
One of them had worked there for more than a decade. “He was taken off the street,” Richard says.
He asked us not to use his real name, as he fears his restaurant will be targeted by federal agents.
The restaurant now has staff shortages, as it is “too dangerous” for Latino workers to travel, Richard says.
“We (the owners) drive our staff to work in our own vehicles, with tinted windows we’ve had installed so no one can see inside.”
“ICE in Minnesota is creating an atmosphere of fear and panic,” he says. “I feel it.”
More than 60 Minnesota-based companies call for de-escalationpublished at 01:58
Image source,Getty ImagesThe chief executives of 3M, Best Buy, Target, and UnitedHealth Group – along with dozens of other Minnesota-based businesses – have signed an open letter calling for “an immediate deescalation of tensions” and for local and federal officials “to work together to find real solutions”.
The letter was issued today by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and includes more than 60 signatories.
“In this difficult moment for our community,” the business leaders say, “we call for peace and focused co-operation among local, state and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future.”
In pictures: Protesters take to the streets of Minneapolispublished at 01:42
Image source,AFP via Getty Images
Image source,AFP via Getty Images
Image source,AFP via Getty Images
Watch: Analysing the Minneapolis shooting frame by framepublished at 01:27
Bystander video footage has captured the moments before 37-year-old Minneapolis man Alex Pretti was killed by federal immigration officers.
BBC Verify has analysed footage of the shooting from several angles, piecing together a detailed picture of what happened.
Ros Atkins reports below.
Contains upsetting scenes.Media caption, BBC Verify unpicks the second Minneapolis shooting frame by frame
Kamala Harris pays tribute to Alex Prettipublished at 01:14
Image source,Getty ImagesFormer US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who ran for president in 2024 alongside Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has paid tribute to Alex Pretti on social media, noting that “his final act before he was killed by federal agents was doing everything in his power to protect his community”.
“Alex and tens of thousands of Minnesotans have boldly defended their neighbors against the murderous occupation of an American city by the federal government. I am enraged and heartbroken for Alex, his family, Minneapolis, and America,” she wrote.
‘I’m 69 and tired of protesting’published at 00:47
Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis
Image source,Ana Faguy / BBC“I’m tired of protesting.”
These are some of the first words out of 69-year-old Pege Miller’s mouth when we meet her on the side of the road, a few blocks from where Alex Pretti was killed.
She has lived in Minneapolis her entire life.
“We can’t comprehend how this is happening, why are we letting this happen?” she asks.
This isn’t her first time coming out to protest, but she says she wishes she didn’t have to.
“We’re on tenterhooks, we don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
White House press secretary says Minnesota governor wants ‘chaos’published at 00:36
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has shared a message on X condemning Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, saying that he wants “chaos”.
“Tim Walz does NOT believe in law and order,” Leavitt wrote. “No amount of propaganda from his allies in the liberal media will convince the American people otherwise.”
“Walz wants chaos which is why he’s repeatedly encouraged left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers in the middle of lawful operations, leading to officers being doxxed, targeted, impeded, and placed in extremely dangerous situations,” she says.
She adds Walz should be working with federal law enforcement and that President Trump will not be deterred in his mission to deport “violent illegal criminal.
BBC
