Key Takeaways
- ICE agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during a disputed immigration operation, prompting widespread protests.
- Video footage and family accounts challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s statements, intensifying public calls for transparency.
- The incident has renewed focus on other ICE-involved deaths, including Keith Porter Jr. and Renée Good.
The second fatal shooting this month of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis at the hands of a federal agent is intensifying anger over immigration enforcement tactics, and pulling renewed attention to the killing of Keith Porter Jr., a Black father of two who died in Northridge, California, after an encounter with an off-duty ICE agent.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot and killed Saturday (Jan. 24) during an immigration operation in south Minneapolis. Publicly available bystander videos show Pretti filming agents with his phone, directing traffic, and stepping between an agent and a woman who was pushed to the ground. He was pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the street, and surrounded by about six agents when an agent appeared to remove a “gun” and move away from him. Agents can be heard yelling, “gun, gun,” just before the first shot.
Federal officials, including the Trump administration, offered a sharply different narrative — one that critics say is contradicted by video evidence.
What happened during Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis
The Department of Homeland Security claimed Pretti approached officers “with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” at “9:05 a.m. CT,” adding that he “violently resisted” and that an agent fired “defensive shots.” DHS also suggested the absence of ID and the presence of magazines “looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
But video evidence reviewed by The Guardian and others appears to show Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, in the moments before he was tackled. Pretti’s parents also rejected the administration’s framing, saying, “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” adding, “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
The Obamas condemn Alex Pretti shooting and call for support of protests
Barack and Michelle Obama issued a joint statement warning that “our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” and said: “For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” adding that these tactics “have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S citizens.”
They also wrote: “Rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renée Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation — and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence.” The Obamas added: “Every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.”
Where Renée Good’s case fits into this moment
As previously reported by REVOLT, Renée Nicole Macklin Good, 37, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7 during Operation Metro Surge, escalating a political and legal fight over transparency and who controls investigations when federal agents are involved. Her family’s attorney, Antonio M. Romanucci, responded to Pretti’s death by calling the killing “terrifying, deeply disturbing, and heartbreaking,” stressing that another U.S. citizen lost their life while simply showing up to peacefully advocate. He urged the public to “trust their own eyes,” saying, “We urge all Americans to trust their own eyes as they interpret the horrific video, and to call for an absolute end to ICE activity in Minneapolis,” before adding, “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.”
Who was Keith Porter Jr. and what happened in Northridge, LA?
Porter, 43, was killed on New Year’s Eve outside his apartment complex in Northridge. DHS said an off-duty ICE agent heard gunfire, took his “ICE authorized firearm” outside, identified himself, and shot after Porter allegedly pointed a long rifle and refused to put it down. Loved ones and advocates dispute that portrayal, saying Porter had been firing celebratory shots and did not pose an imminent threat.
At a press conference reported by ABC7, Porter’s mother, Franceola Armstrong, said, “From day one that he was born, I knew that he was my joy,” later adding, “When he came around, people looked for him. He was a joy to be around. My son, the biggest heart, sympathetic, appreciative, so much gratitude.” Attorney Jamal Tooson questioned why the agent left a place of safety, saying, “But instead of staying in his apartment for a trained law enforcement officer from LAPD to respond, he made the premeditated and calculated decision to grab a firearm.”
With Pretti’s killing sparking fresh outrage, the Porter case is once again circulating nationally, with advocates pointing to a pattern: disputed federal accounts, families demanding accountability, and public demonstrations. Fox 11 Los Angeles also reported “Anti-ICE protests across California amid shootings of Keith Porter, Renée Good, Alex Pretti,” as organizers and elected officials tied the deaths together while calling for independent investigations and limits on federal enforcement tactics.