Federal and state officials both claim moral high ground in immigration crackdown after shooting

MINNEAPOLIS — In dueling news conferences, federal and state officials offered starkly different messages Sunday about the immigration crackdown that has swept across Minneapolis and surrounding cities, with both claiming the moral high ground in the wake of another shooting death by federal agents.

“Which side do you want to be on?" Gov. Tim Walz asked the public. "The side of an all-powerful federal government that could kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government,” a reference to the shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis.

At the same time, in a federal office building about 20 miles away, Border Patrol senior official Gregory Bovino, the public face of the crackdown, again turned blame for the shooting to Pretti.

“When someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene, interfere, obstruct, delay or assault law enforcement officer and — and they bring a weapon to do that. That is a choice that that individual made,” he told reporters.

The competing comments emerged as local leaders and Democrats across the country demanded federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after Pretti's shooting, which set off clashes with protesters in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.

Video contradicts administration statements

Video shot by bystanders and reviewed by The Associated Press appears to contradict statements by President Donald Trump’s administration, which said agents fired “defensively” against Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, as he approached them.

Pretti can be seen with only a phone in his hand as he steps between an immigration agent and a woman on the street. No footage appears to show him with a weapon. During the scuffle, agents appear to disarm him after discovering that he was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, and then opened fire several times. Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

In the hours after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Bovino said he wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”

Bovino was more restrained Sunday, saying he would not speculate about the shooting and that he planned to wait for the investigation.

Republicans call for deeper investigation

A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after the shooting, a sign that the Trump administration's accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”

A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.

The killing has raised uncomfortable questions about the GOP's core positions on issues ranging from gun ownership to states' rights and trust in the federal government.

Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said on social media that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” He pushed for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”

Murkowski called for an investigation and added that “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.” Collins, the only incumbent Republican senator facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024, said a probe is needed “to determine whether or not excessive force was used in a situation that may have been able to be diffused without violence.”

While calling for protesters to “keep space” from law enforcement and not interfere, Collins said federal law enforcement must "recognize both the public’s right to protest and the highly charged situation they now face.”

Even Sen. Pete Ricketts, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called for a “prioritized, transparent investigation.”

“My support for funding ICE remains the same,” the Nebraska Republican, who is up for reelection, said online. “But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble.”

Trump and other administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. In a lengthy social media post on Sunday evening, Trump called on Minnesota's Democratic leadership to “formally cooperate” with his administration and pressed Congress to ban so-called sanctuary cities.

In a social media post, the National Rifle Association said “responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is often critical of the White House, said “carrying a firearm is not a death sentence.”

“It's a Constitutionally protected God-given right,” he said, "and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government.

The second-ranking Justice Department official said he was aware of reports that Pretti was lawfully armed.

“There’s nothing wrong with anybody lawfully carrying firearms,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “But just make no mistake about it, this was an incredibly split-second decision that had to be made by ICE officers.”

Relatives say they are heartbroken

Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities. Relatives were furious at federal officials’ description of the shooting.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand, and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son.”

Walz was practically shouting in his closing remarks, denouncing as “despicable beyond all description” the comments that federal officials made about Pretti.

"And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control,” he said.

The White House kept up its attacks on the governor, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt posting on X that Walz "does NOT believe in law and order” and accusing him of encouraging “left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers in the middle of lawful operations.”

At the federal news conference, Marcos Charles of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said one of their agents permanently lost a part of his finger when a protester bit it off Saturday in Minneapolis.

“This kind of violence is not a coincidence,” Charles said. “When sanctuary politicians, activists and the media work hard to create chaos and fear instead of using their platforms to reassure their communities, this is the result.”

Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.

Federal officials, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, have thwarted local attempts to participate.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates police shootings, told reporters Saturday that federal officers had blocked his agency from the scene of the shooting even after it obtained a signed judicial warrant. Bureau officers were working at the scene Sunday morning.

A federal judge has already issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting, after state and county officials sued.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the lawsuit filed Saturday is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St. Paul.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the lawsuit, saying claims that the federal government would destroy evidence are “a ridiculous attempt to divide the American people and distract from the fact that our law enforcement officers were attacked — and their lives were threatened.”

The Minnesota National Guard temporarily assisted local police at Walz's direction, officials said, with troops sent to the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off daily with demonstrators.

But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Sunday morning on CBS' "Face the Nation" that “it’s back to just the Minneapolis police responding to calls.”

No evidence that Pretti brandished gun

O'Hara said he had seen no evidence that Pretti brandished the pistol, and that the crackdown was exhausting his department.

“This is taking an enormous toll, trying to manage all this chaos on top of having to be the police department for a major city. It’s too much,” he said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding that federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota.

In a statement, former President Barack Obama called Pretti’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy” and warned that “many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”

He urged the White House to work with city and state officials.

“This has to stop,” Obama said.

Federal officials have repeatedly questioned why Pretti was armed during the confrontation. But gun rights groups noted that it's legal to carry firearms during protests.

“Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

Video footage shows pushing and then shooting

When the Saturday confrontation began, bystander video shows protesters blowing whistles and shouting profanities at federal officers on a commercial street in south Minneapolis.

The videos show Pretti stepping in after an immigration officer shoves a woman. Pretti appears to be holding his phone toward the officer, but there's no sign he's holding a weapon.

The officer shoves Pretti in his chest and pepper sprays him and the woman.

Soon, at least seven officers force Pretti to the ground. Several officers try to bring his arms behind his back as he appears to resist. An officer holding a canister strikes him near his head several times.

A first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back. Multiple officers back off. Within seconds, Pretti is motionless on the street.

Brett Williams, 37, came from the city's suburbs to attend a vigil Sunday at the shooting scene.

“I stand in solidarity with a brother whose life was taken too soon,” he said. “He’s standing up for immigrants. We’re all immigrants.”