On the morning of Saturday the 24th, ICE agents fatally shot and killed Minneapolis ICU Nurse Alex Pretti.
Videos of the incident show a small group of people surrounding a protester being detained. Pretti is shown to be filming the scene, and walks closer to the federal agents. Then, an agent began to push away two other civilians next to Pretti, one notably falling to the ground. Pretti then tries to stand between the agent and the two other civilians, leading the agent to pepper spray him.
Several agents come over to grab Pretti, and he is then pinned to the ground. An agent wearing a grey coat notices an undrawn gun at Pretti’s right hip, which he takes while he is detained. Then, while Pretti is on his knees, another agent fires a shot at him at close range, an additional three shots follow.
After the initial shots, remaining agents begin to move away from the scene. The officer who first pepper-sprayed Pretti draws his gun and begins to shoot at a now collapsed Pretti; another agent joins him and another six shots. In total, ten shots were fired, ultimately killing Pretti.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the episode began when a man approached officers with a handgun and the agent’s shots were out of defense. However, videos from witnesses show that Pretti never once drew the gun he was carrying (which he was licensed for).
With regards to gun laws, Minnesota is a “shall-issue” state, which means that applicants that have a gun permit and are 21+ years of age can carry a firearm, either openly or concealed in public. This would mean Pretti was doing nothing illegal by possessing the handgun.
Earlier this month, another incident involving ICE in Minneapolis led to the fatal shooting of civilian Renee Good. Because of these two shootings happening in such a short time period, across social media there have been mass calls for ICE to be reformed. Primarily, those calling for head of ICE Kristi Noem to resign.
As of now, Noem has made clear she has no intention of stepping down, being backed by President Trump who claims she is doing a good job in her position. However, some democratic lawmakers came out wishing to impeach Noem, but no formal actions have yet been taken.
