After the U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on January 24, Minnesota’s political leaders are promising to hold federal officials accountable. This has led to more protests in a state that is already on edge because of recent police shootings.
Gov. Tim Walz and other Minnesotans have promised that the state “will have the last word” on the deadly shooting that they think happened because of the Trump administration’s controversial decision to send agents to enforce immigration laws. The governor and other Democrats have opposed all of these actions.
“I have a strong message for our federal government,” Walz said. “Minnesota’s justice system will have the final say on this.” It has to have the last word.
Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, said late on Saturday that he had sued federal officials “to stop the destruction of evidence” related to Pretti’s shooting.
A federal judge in Minnesota has ruled that the Trump administration cannot “destroy or alter evidence” related to a Border Patrol agent’s shooting death that happened on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Fox News said that the decision came after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a lawsuit on the same day to protect the evidence in the case.
The governor asked the Minnesota National Guard to secure the site of the shooting and the Whipple Federal Building, which is a known staging area for immigration authorities and has become a hotspot for protesters. “The Minnesota National Guard’s mission remains the same: preserving life, protecting property, and ensuring Minnesotans can safely exercise their First Amendment rights,” Army Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya, a state national guard public affairs officer, said in a statement.
During an encounter with federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Pretti, a U.S. citizen and nurse in the VA’s intensive care unit, was killed. Federal officials said Pretti had a gun and said he planned to use it against police. Officials said there was a fight before an agent shot.
This happened after the recent death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month. The shooting also led to protests and calls for more oversight of federal law enforcement in Minnesota.
After the shooting, Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke about it on national news shows. She defended the work of federal agents and told protesters not to target law enforcement officers or get in the way of federal operations.
Bondi said that federal authorities will hold people accountable when they should and stressed that attacking officers or getting in the way of law enforcement is a federal crime.
She also said that she wrote Walz a letter asking him to work with federal immigration officials to avoid any more problems and deaths as “Operation Metro Surge” goes on.
Michael, Pretti’s father, told The Associated Press that his son, who graduated from the University of Minnesota, started protesting after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on January 7. He said that Pretti was “very upset with what was going on in Minneapolis and the rest of the country with ICE.”
Michael Pretti said, “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping kids and just grabbing people off the street.” “He cared about those people and knew it was wrong, so he did join the protests.”
His parents told him recently to be careful when protesting and not to “engage” or “do anything stupid.” “He said he knows that.” Michael Pretti told the outlet, “He knew that.”
