The man killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by immigration agents was called Alex Jeffrey Pretti, he was 37 years old. A former University of Minnesota student, he was a nurse and had no criminal record. The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reports it. He died when he was shot in the chest at point blank range.
It is the second victim in the Minnesota city, after the protester Renee Good, while in recent days another citizen was injured by federal gunfire, the third episode in a month.
The resentment of the local population is growing
The arrests of children of immigrants also increased the resentment of the local population, who marched in the city on Friday after the proclamation of a general strike: the latest was that of a two-year-old girl.
The images and dynamics are still unclear
The dynamics of the latest tragedy are not yet fully clarified, but some images are already circulating on social media. A video that was also broadcast on US TV shows people wearing masks and tactical vests struggling with a man on a snow-covered road before shots are heard. In the clip, the man falls to the ground and more gunshots are heard, at least five.
The Department of Homeland Security version
The Department of Homeland Security rushed to give its version, evoking the line of self-defense, as in Good’s case. “While the department’s law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an individual who they believed was in the country illegally and who was ‘wanted for violent assault,’ an individual approached US Border Patrol agents with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin explained, although the weapon is not seen in the images.
«The officers attempted to disarm the armed suspect who however resisted violently. Fearing for his life and the safety of his colleagues, an officer fired defensive shots,” he added, reporting that the man also had “two magazines and no identification.”
“It appears to be a situation where an individual wanted to cause maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” the department said on X, accompanying the message with a photo of a semi-automatic pistol presented as that of the slain man: a Sig Sauer Emperor Scorpion.
Trump’s accusations against local authorities
Trump supported the official version by publishing the photo of the alleged victim’s weapon on Truth and accusing the mayor of the city and the governor of Minnesota of not collaborating with Ice and even of “inciting the insurrection with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric”.
The appeal for calm and the explosion of protests
The local police chief, Brian O’Hara, confirmed that there are still no details of the shooting but hinted that there were more officers involved. He then invited the population to remain calm and avoid the area affected by the tragedy.
But, immediately after the shots, a crowd gathered right there shouting everything at the feds: “Cowards”, “protect the murderers”, “shame”, “Ice out”.
Some tear gas was used to contain the demonstrators but the protest risks getting bigger.
Protests also in other cities and clashes over the investigations
And not only in Minneapolis, but also in other cities, such as New York, where a march invaded Manhattan on Friday. And as conflict erupts again over who will lead the investigation, local authorities raise their voices and demand that Ice goes away.
The position of the governor of Minnesota
“Just spoke with the White House following another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning,” Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X.
«This is nauseating. The president must put a stop to this operation. Remove the thousands of violent, untrained officers from Minnesota. Now,” he added.
Mayor Jacob Frey’s speech
Also harsh was Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, who after the killing of Renee Good had ordered Ice to “go to hell”.
«Side with Minneapolis. Stand for America. Remember that your children will ask you which side you were on.
Your grandchildren will ask you what you did to prevent this from happening again… What did you do to protect your nation?”, he said addressing his fellow citizens, before also asking Trump to “take immediate action to remove these federal agents”.
The case of the two-year-old girl arrested by Ice
Among the latest brutalities by Ice in Minneapolis, the arrest of a two-year-old girl and her father, both transported – despite a judge’s warning – to a Texas detention center, the same one where a five-year-old Ecuadorian boy ended up a few days ago. Immigration agents then repatriated them both to Minnesota, where the little girl was given custody of her mother while her father remains in prison.