Minneapolis Man Slain in Further Escalation with ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents killed a 37-year-old man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. The incident, captured on multiple videos, shows ICE agents wrestling Pretti to the ground before multiple shots are heard while he is being restrained.
Local officials confirmed Pretti’s death.
One video, published by Drop Site News, shows a closer look at the confrontation. Early in that footage, an immigration officer is involved in a confrontation with a woman. Pretti is seen recording the scene and moving toward the woman.
While he is partially restrained, with multiple officers surrounding him, one agent appears to remove a handgun from Pretti before he is shot.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, claimed the man was threatening the officers with his weapon. Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said that he “violently resisted.”
The government maintains the agent acted in self-defense. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” DHS said.
And when asked by reporters, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asserted Pretti had committed an “act of domestic terrorism.”
The fatal showdown was swiftly seized upon by leading Democrats both locally and nationally. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on President Trump to “end the operation” by immigration enforcement in the city. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would seek to block a new funding round for the government if it included DHS funding, raising the prospect of a new government shutdown.
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