As tensions reach a boiling point in Minneapolis following a second fatal shooting of a civilian, protesters and others in the city are calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave the Twin Cities area, or at the very least, scale back operations.
On Saturday, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot at least 10 times by federal agents in Minnesota. Federal authorities say the shooting was an act of self-defense, noting that Pretti was legally carrying a firearm. But footage of the encounter seems to contradict that story: Multiple videos appear to show Pretti stepping in to help a woman agents had shoved to the ground, and an agent removing the gun Pretti had holstered before shooting.
Critics say aggressive ICE tactics in Minnesota and elsewhere are a direct result of lowered standards in agent training and officials urging agents to arrest as many people as possible. In October, as ICE ramped up immigration raids in Chicago, Stephen Miller — widely regarded as the architect of Trump’s mass deportation efforts — appeared on Fox News and addressed ICE agents directly.
“You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony,” Miller said in the interview, which the Department of Homeland Security reshared on X just a week after ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. (Under pressure, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that the federal agents who killed Pretti on Saturday and Good earlier this month in Minneapolis have finally been placed on leave.)
