A federal immigration officer has shot dead a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.
The incident on Saturday was one of five shootings in January involving federal agents conducting immigration enforcement, including the fatal shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets despite sub-zero temperatures to voice opposition to US President Donald Trump's intensifying immigration crackdown and demand he withdraw the agents, which Minnesota officials have called an occupation.
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Kristi Noem said in a press conference that DHS officers "were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien" wanted for crimes including violent assault when they were approached by a person "with a 9 millimetre semi-automatic handgun".
Noem said one of the officers fired their weapon after the individual "reacted violently".
"Fearing for his life and for the lives of their fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics were on the scene immediately and attempted to deliver medical aid to the subject, but he was pronounced dead at the scene," Noem said, as a photo of the weapon was shown on a screen next to her.
The man was also carrying additional ammunition and had no ID on him, she said.
"This looks like a situation when an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement."
Local leaders, including Minnesota governor Tim Walz, questioned that account.
"I've seen the video from several angles and it's sickening," Walz said.
"The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation — the state will handle it."
The head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Drew Evans, told reporters that federal agents blocked his team's attempts to begin an investigation on Saturday.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara said the man who was killed was a lawful gun owner with no criminal record other than traffic violations.
Bystander videos from the scene verified by Reuters showed the man, identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who have been pushed to the ground by agents.
As the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes away one woman and pushes another person to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself and turns away as the agent pepper-sprays him.
Several agents then take hold of Pretti — who struggles with them — and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin down Pretti, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun. Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.
Moments later, an officer with a handgun pointed at Pretti's back fires four shots at him in quick succession. Several more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.
The agents initially all back away from Pretti's body on the road. Some agents then seem to offer medical assistance to Pretti as he lies on the ground, as other agents keep bystanders back.
Victim 'cared about people deeply'
The victim's father said he was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by Trump's immigration crackdown in his city.
Pretti, 37, had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good.
"He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset," Michael Pretti, Alex's father, said.
Within a short period of time, demonstrators gathered at the scene of the incident in Minneapolis, where officers reportedly used tear gas and pepper spray.
Following the fatal shootings, Trump attacked the city's mayor and the governor of the state of Minnesota.
"The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!" Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
Trump also wrote regarding the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): "LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!"
Walz urged Trump in a press conference to withdraw federal forces from the state.
"Remove this force from Minnesota, they are sowing chaos and violence."
On X, Walz had written earlier: "Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now."
"Minnesota has had it. This is sickening," Walz posted.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey posted on X: "How many more people need to die or get shot before this ends? President Trump, I am calling on you to put the American people and this American city first & get ICE out."
If the mission's goal is to ensure peace and security, then it is achieving exactly the opposite, Frey said.
The ICE operations are part of the toughened deportation policy in Trump's second term, which started in January 2025.
Since the start of intensified operations in Minnesota, around 3,000 people have been arrested, according to the administration.
Several lawsuits by local authorities against the actions of federal agencies are currently pending in courts.
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