Alex Pretti was a person for whom no one wished such a death.Image: FR172090 AP
analysis
The killing of Alex Pretti by border guards in Minneapolis shocked the USA. It puts Donald Trump’s government in a position to explain – with far-reaching consequences.
January 28, 2026, 7:59 p.mJanuary 28, 2026, 7:59 p.m
Humility is a term that has no place in Donald Trump’s vocabulary. The US President likes to speak in superlatives, and he reacts to criticism – even justified ones – in a thin-skinned or even aggressive manner. Recently, however, Americans experienced a meek Trump. For the first time in his second term he is in real trouble.
The reason is the killing of the nurse Alex Pretti last Saturday in Minneapolis. Initially, the Trump administration was in attack mode, as usual. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who approached border guards with a gun in his hand. But this version quickly proved untenable.
Video: Watson/Lucas Zollinger
In a report from the border protection agency CBP, which the broadcaster CBS had access to, there is no mention of a weapon. In fact, several videos show that Pretti had a smartphone in his hand. And the pistol that Pretti actually carried in his waistband, was taken from himbefore two border guards fired the fatal shots at him.
“Moral failure”
Since then, the United States has been in turmoil. The Washington Post, whose opinion section has moved to the right since Trump’s return, described the “unlawful killing” of Alex Pretti in an op-ed “Turning point in Trump’s second term”. His campaign for mass deportation was “a moral and political failure.”
Trump, the instinctive man, certainly recognized the danger. On Saturday he lashed out in his usual manner, targeting not Alex Pretti, but Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, and Tim Walz, the governor of the state of Minnesota. On Monday he spoke to both of them on the phone and was full of praise.
Already the second killing
The president had already made unusually reserved comments in a telephone interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening. His government will “thoroughly investigate” the case. The next day he let Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who likes to wear Nazi-like uniforms, remove from Minneapolis.
But why is Alex Pretti’s death causing such uproar? On January 7th, 37-year-old mother of three Renée Nicole Good was already in Minneapolis by an agent from the ICE immigration police under similarly dubious circumstances been shot. But Good was married to a woman and, for many on the right, was more of a perpetrator than a victim.
Five-year-old “decoy”
The case of five-year-old Liam Ramos, an ICE agent also in Minneapolis, raised eyebrows apparently used them as a “decoy”.to arrest his father, who is from Ecuador. He had submitted an asylum application. Vice President JD Vance had to justify this during his visit to the city last week.
But it was the killing of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti that broke the camel’s back. And not without reason. He worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit of a state hospital for war veterans. He had no previous convictions and he had a firearms license for the pistol he was carrying. There could hardly be a “stupid” victim than him.
In the weapons trap
Nevertheless, members of the Trump administration tried to blame him for the pistol, such as FBI Director Kash Patel. Even the president stumbled during an appearance in Iowa fell into this trap on Tuesday. It’s not just the NRA gun lobby that is upset about this. For America’s conservatives, that’s carrying guns usually a sacrosanct right.
Donald Trump with a picture of a criminal allegedly arrested by ICE in Minnesota.Image: keystone
But it is not only this certainty that is called into question by Pretti’s killing, which resembles an execution. It is also about the hunt for “illegal” immigrants by ICE and border protection, which is financed with billions of euros and with which the Trump administration is pursuing two goals. They want to intimidate Democratic Party strongholds like Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Deport migrants
Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota seemed to be a particularly “grateful” destination because recently a gigantic welfare fraud uncovered, in which people of Somali origin are involved. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice presidential candidate in 2024, is therefore not running for governor again.
This aspect is pushed into the background by the killings. Instead, there is increasing debate about the actual purpose of the “exercise”. According to the Trump administration, the agents are supposed to arrest criminals. In reality, she wants to deport as many migrants as possible, even if, like Liam Ramos’ father, they are in the asylum process.
White supremacy
For critics like Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, it’s about the identitarian-racist agenda, which is primarily pushed by agitator Stephen Miller. The constant flow of immigrants from Latin America should not only be stopped, but reversed and the supremacy of white Americans should be preserved.
Damage to the economy is accepted because most of these immigrants work and pay taxes, even if they are in the country without valid documents or have “semi-legal” status as asylum seekers. Stephen Miller also defended the shots at Alex Pretti in an initial reaction, but now he is distancing himself.
Focus on criminals
In a statement, the White House deputy chief of staff announced an investigation into whether the Border Patrol violated regulations during the confrontation. President Trump also sent “border czar” Tom Homan to Minneapolis. According to US media, he should focus on the official goal: the search for criminals.
It is fitting that Trump promised de-escalation on Fox News. “Most Americans want a secure border and the deportation of violent criminals,” says the Washington Post commentary. But last year’s abuses could “destroy his presidency and cause more tragedies.”