Minneapolis Rage
Axios AM report by Mike Allen
January 25, 2026
Minneapolis' fragile stitches held for 17 days before the wound ripped back open with a federal agent's fatal shooting of a 37-year-old nurse yesterday morning, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot writes.
For the second time in less than a month, a U.S. citizen was killed by federal law enforcement while protesting an immigration operation that has roiled Minnesota.
📱 As with the killing of Renee Good in early January, cell phone videos of the deadly encounter between agents and Alex Pretti instantly spread online.
Video shows that Pretti was stripped of a gun during the scrum before he was struck by multiple gunshots.
An N.Y. Times analysis found that verified videos on social media "appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security's account … Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him."
The big picture: This is the definition of a war by choice, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write:
Trump chose to use ICE to expand immigration enforcement beyond clear-cut violent criminals.
He chose to recruit new ICE agents and rush their training.
He chose to target Minnesota — then chose again and again to escalate.
He chose to downplay incidents where ICE beat or killed U.S. citizens.
He chose to let top officials make unverified accusations that contradict reality.
Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, had a concealed gun on him when he began to struggle with Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis' Whittier neighborhood.
Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Family members said he had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota.
Being there: Tense standoffs and clashes between protesters and law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of the shooting gave way by the evening to solemn vigils. Residents gathered in parks and on street corners in the frigid cold to light the night with candles.
January 25, 2026
Minneapolis' fragile stitches held for 17 days before the wound ripped back open with a federal agent's fatal shooting of a 37-year-old nurse yesterday morning, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot writes.
For the second time in less than a month, a U.S. citizen was killed by federal law enforcement while protesting an immigration operation that has roiled Minnesota.
📱 As with the killing of Renee Good in early January, cell phone videos of the deadly encounter between agents and Alex Pretti instantly spread online.
Video shows that Pretti was stripped of a gun during the scrum before he was struck by multiple gunshots.
An N.Y. Times analysis found that verified videos on social media "appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security's account … Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him."
The big picture: This is the definition of a war by choice, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write:
Trump chose to use ICE to expand immigration enforcement beyond clear-cut violent criminals.
He chose to recruit new ICE agents and rush their training.
He chose to target Minnesota — then chose again and again to escalate.
He chose to downplay incidents where ICE beat or killed U.S. citizens.
He chose to let top officials make unverified accusations that contradict reality.
Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, had a concealed gun on him when he began to struggle with Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis' Whittier neighborhood.
Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Family members said he had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota.
Being there: Tense standoffs and clashes between protesters and law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of the shooting gave way by the evening to solemn vigils. Residents gathered in parks and on street corners in the frigid cold to light the night with candles.
