A protest sign against the increasing violence by the US agency ICE.Image: keystone
The death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is causing a lot of criticism of Donald Trump and his ICE henchmen. What we know about the incident so far.
January 25, 2026, 10:07January 25, 2026, 10:19
That’s what happened
Another person died during an operation by the US deportation authority ICE in Minneapolis. A 37-year-old man was shot by officers. There are different accounts of the exact course of the incident. The victim’s family accuses the US government of lying.
This is what is known about the course of the incident
Several eyewitness videos from different perspectives of the incident on the street are circulating online. In one of them, which the German Press Agency has verified, you can see how several masked people in riot gear forcefully bring a person to the ground and try to restrain them. Obviously it’s Alex Pretti. In the end he is surrounded by eight emergency services.
Then shots are fired, according to the sound there are about ten. It may be that different people are shooting, but this cannot be clearly seen from the recordings. Even as the man lies motionless on the ground, at least one of the masked men continues to shoot at him.
Video: external/Elena Maria Müller
After the fatal shooting of Pretti, there were renewed protests in Minneapolis against deportation raids and the suppression of peaceful resistance to them. In addition, dozens of people with candles gathered in a mixture of bewilderment, anger and sadness for a vigil in front of the home of the man who was killed.
This is what is known about the victim
The man who was shot is called Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was 37 years old and was a nurse by profession. He worked in an intensive care unit for war veterans, his family confirmed this. According to this, he was always caring for his fellow human beings. Pretti was a clear opponent of Donald Trump’s policies, and the treatment of migrants in particular disgusted him.
More information about Pretti can be found here:
That’s what the government says
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Pretti was armed. The federal officers were involved in an operation against a foreigner wanted for assault who was said to be in the USA illegally when a person approached with a semi-automatic pistol. The ministry presented a photo of the alleged weapon. Donald Trump also commented on this – according to the president, the gun was loaded.
The officers tried to disarm the person carrying the pistol, but he resisted, the Department of Homeland Security said. Then one of the security forces fired the fatal shots. At a press conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem evaded questions about whether Pretti even drew the legal weapon and whether he had apparently been disarmed before the first shot.
Kristi Noem speaks of self-defense.Image: keystone
Instead, the Republican, whose party traditionally supports the free right to carry a weapon, raised the counter question of why a demonstrator would carry a pistol with him at all. Trump’s influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller even described Pretti – who had no criminal record – as a “domestic terrorist” after the bloody incident.
This is what the victim’s family says
Pretti’s parents vehemently contradict the US government’s account. They accuse ICE officers of killing their son for no legitimate reason. They accused Trump’s people and the US President himself of spreading lies about the incident in the state of Minnesota.
Pretti’s parents emphasized that, contrary to what was claimed, their son did not pose a threat to the officers when he was attacked by the masked emergency services on Saturday morning (local time).
Based on the videos reviewed by dpa, no clear statement can be made on the question of whether Pretti was armed, as the police said he was authorized to carry a firearm. In one of the videos circulating on social networks, it appears as if a pistol was taken from him by the officers – but before the first shots were fired, which would further question the theory of the alleged acute danger to the life of the emergency services. An analysis by the US news channel CNN supports this representation.
“The vile lies that the government is spreading about our son are reprehensible and disgusting,” said the family in a statement carried by several US media outlets. “Alex is clearly not holding a weapon when he is attacked by Trump’s murderous and cowardly ICE thugs.” He was simply trying to protect a woman who had been brought to the ground by an officer, holding a cell phone in his hand and being sprayed with pepper spray before the shots were fired. The truth must be brought to light.
When 37-year-old US citizen Renee Good was shot in her car during an ICE operation in Minneapolis at the beginning of January, the government described the action as self-defense by an officer in acute danger to her life. But in this case too, videos painted a different picture. Indignation spread across the country, demonstrators and the opposition Democrats spoke – as they are now doing – of completely excessive violence and a lack of transparency in the process of coming to terms with it.
Minnesota sues Trump administration
Since the US government and its subordinate authorities under Trump regularly spread false claims or at least selectively report the truth, many no longer believe their accounts. California Governor Gavin Newsom called for Noem’s resignation and the firing of Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, who is responsible for implementing Trump’s deportation policy. In addition, the Democrats in the US Senate are now threatening to block budget funds for the Homeland Security Agency.
Minnesota’s government and the city of Minneapolis called on Trump to withdraw the emergency services tasked with implementing his radical deportation policy from the big city. Mayor Jacob Frey asked the state’s National Guard for help because the police needed personnel support “due to the impairment of public safety by immigration officials.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz – like Frey, a Democrat – announced that the state would take the investigation into the fatal shooting into its own hands because the Trump administration could not be trusted. “Minnesota’s judiciary will have the final say on this matter. She must have the last word,” he said in a press conference.
“This occupation of Minnesota by the federal government has long since had nothing to do with enforcing immigration laws. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state.”
Minnesota announced that it would take legal action against the US government. According to the state prosecutor’s office, ICE agents removed items from the crime scene and tried to cover up evidence. Numerous events were canceled due to the unrest. There were large protests against ICE in several cities in the USA.
con with material from the news agencies SDA and DPA.