Two fatal shootings during DHS immigration surge ignite Minneapolis backlash and national scrutiny

The gunfire started just after 9 a.m. on a gray Saturday along a busy stretch of Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Bystander videos show an ICU nurse, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, standing near a donut shop, phone raised as heavily armed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fan out across the intersection as part of an immigration operation. An agent shoves a civilian. Pepper spray mists the air. Pretti steps forward, then collapses with a woman as agents wrestle him to the pavement.

Pinned on the ground, his arms held above his head, Pretti appears to be disarmed by one agent, who removes a handgun from his hip. Seconds later, another agent, alerted that Pretti “has a gun,” turns and fires at close range into the nurse’s back. Ten shots ring out in roughly five seconds. Pretti, 37, does not get up.

His killing on Jan. 24 came 17 days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed 37‑year‑old Renée Nicole Good during a separate enforcement operation less than two miles away. Together, the two deaths have turned Minneapolis — still synonymous for many with the 2020 murder of George Floyd — into the center of a new national confrontation over immigration enforcement, federal power and the limits of public tolerance for deadly force.

Both killings occurred under the umbrella of Operation Metro Surge, a sweeping Department of Homeland Security campaign that has flooded the Twin Cities with immigration agents and sparked protests from Minnesota to California.

Authorities say both shootings remain under investigation. The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. No charges have been filed.

Two deaths under one operation

Operation Metro Surge, announced Dec. 4 and expanded Jan. 6, has brought an estimated 2,000 ICE officers and 1,000 Border Patrol agents into Minneapolis–St. Paul, making it one of the largest immigration enforcement operations ever mounted inside a U.S. city.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has touted the effort as a major success, saying it has led to the arrest of “over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens” in Minneapolis, including 3,000 in the first six weeks. Local reporting and court records show those figures include people already serving sentences in state prisons and jails, raising questions about how the numbers are compiled.

As of late January, DHS has acknowledged three deaths linked to Metro Surge: Good and Pretti, both shot by federal agents on city streets, and one person who died in ICE custody.

Federal officials say the campaign is necessary to remove dangerous people from the country. Civil rights groups, local officials and some members of Congress say Metro Surge has eroded civil liberties, strained relations with local law enforcement and brought military‑style tactics into residential neighborhoods.

That tension was on display within hours of the first shooting.

‘Get the f*** out of Minneapolis’

On the morning of Jan. 7, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers were conducting an operation along Portland Avenue South in the Central neighborhood when they encountered Good, a 37‑year‑old resident who lived nearby.

According to a public statement, the agency contends Good attempted to drive a vehicle toward an officer, forcing him to open fire. Minneapolis police were called at about 9:37 a.m. on a report of shots fired. Good was later pronounced dead.

But video reviewed by multiple news outlets appears to show ICE officer Jonathan Ross standing upright and to the side of Good’s SUV when he fires three rounds in less than a second — one through the windshield, two through the driver’s side window — as the vehicle moves away. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, a term used for deaths caused by another person but not in itself a criminal finding.

The same day, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued one of the harshest public rebukes of federal immigration enforcement by a big‑city mayor in recent memory.

“This was a federal agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying,” Frey said at a news conference. Referring to ICE, he added: “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.”

Frey accused the Trump administration of seeking confrontation.

“We know the agenda of this federal administration is to create chaos,” he said. “Do not take the bait. They want an excuse to come in and show the kind of force that will create more chaos and more despair.”

City officials reiterated that Minneapolis police do not enforce federal immigration law and would not participate in Metro Surge. The city has long limited cooperation with ICE, placing it among a group of local governments sometimes labeled “sanctuary” jurisdictions.

The White House pushed back. President Donald Trump accused Frey of a “very serious violation of the law” for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and renewed threats to withhold certain federal funds from cities with sanctuary‑style policies.

An ICU nurse becomes a second victim

In the days after Good’s death, protests grew in south Minneapolis. Among those who joined them, friends and family say, was Alex Pretti, a soft‑spoken registered nurse who had spent recent years caring for patients at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

Pretti, who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Minnesota, had no criminal record beyond traffic citations, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. He held a valid permit to carry a handgun.

Around Jan. 13, bystander videos captured Pretti in a heated argument with immigration agents on a Minneapolis street. He shouted at the officers, spit toward them and kicked the taillight of a federal SUV, shattering it. That incident, which did not lead to criminal charges, was later circulated by commentators who described him as a violent agitator. His family and supporters say it reflected rising frustration with the operation, not a propensity for violence.

On Jan. 24, as large marches and vigils against Metro Surge spread through the city and to other states, Pretti was near 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue when Border Patrol agents chased a man into a donut shop, witnesses said. Workers locked the doors to keep agents out. Pretti, standing across the street with other civilians, started recording.

What happened next has been dissected frame by frame.

Videos show two agents crossing the street toward the small crowd, one pushing a man wearing an orange backpack. Pretti steps between the agent and a woman, briefly touching the agent’s waist. The agent then pepper‑sprays him. Pretti raises his hands — one still holding his phone — and turns toward the woman, wrapping his arms around her as they fall.

Several agents pile onto Pretti, pinning his arms above his head. One removes a holstered handgun from his hip. A few feet away, another agent, initially facing away and aiming pepper spray at the woman, turns when someone shouts that Pretti has a gun. Around five seconds later, he fires at least one shot into Pretti’s back. In all, two agents fire 10 rounds in about five seconds, including after Pretti appears motionless.

In an initial statement, federal officials said agents confronted an armed man who refused commands and resisted attempts to disarm him, leaving them no choice but to shoot. Video circulated by national and local outlets appears to show that Pretti’s gun had been taken away before he was shot, and that he made no threatening movements while on the ground.

Under Minnesota law, carrying a handgun in public without a permit, or without producing identification when asked, is typically a petty misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $25 for a first offense.

Pretti’s relatives called federal descriptions of him “sickening lies” and said they learned of his death from news reports before authorities contacted them. Labor organizations that represent health workers reacted sharply.

“Alex’s death is the direct result of an administration that has chosen reckless policy, inflammatory rhetoric and manufactured crisis,” his local of the American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement calling for Noem’s removal and the ouster of senior White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller.

National Nurses United labeled ICE a “public health threat” and called for the agency to be abolished. The American Nurses Association urged “a full, unencumbered investigation” and public release of findings.

Protests spread, and so does scrutiny

Within days, the deaths of Good and Pretti had become rallying cries for demonstrations across the country. In Minneapolis, thousands marched downtown and through south‑side streets, carrying signs that read “Justice for Alex,” “Justice for Renée,” “Abolish ICE” and “Stop Metro Surge.” Nurses in scrubs and union T‑shirts joined the front lines. Candlelight vigils formed at the corners where each was killed and outside the VA hospital where Pretti worked.

Similar marches were held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Durham, North Carolina. Organizers connected the Minneapolis shootings to prior clashes over immigration enforcement and police violence.

Most protests were peaceful, but some turned tense. Federal agents in Minneapolis used pepper spray and so‑called less‑lethal munitions to disperse crowds in several incidents. Protesters in turn threw rocks, fireworks and debris. No fatalities were reported at the protests.

The killings and the federal response have deepened partisan divides in Washington while also exposing fractures within the government.

Several Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Rep. Maxine Dexter of Washington, have referred to Pretti’s killing as “murder” and argued that the administration’s rhetoric set the stage for excessive force. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would resist any spending bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security without “serious reforms,” raising the possibility of another funding showdown.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar called Operation Metro Surge “racially motivated” and accused the administration of “weaponizing fear” in Somali and other immigrant communities.

At the same time, a group of Republican senators — including Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Ted Cruz of Texas and others — have called for an independent review of the Pretti shooting and for DHS to preserve all available video and communications.

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing many Border Patrol agents, said in a statement that “reckless confrontations and attacks on our agents” have been encouraged by “irresponsible political and media rhetoric,” arguing that officers are being unfairly blamed.

Judges and prosecutors raise alarms

Beyond the streets and the Capitol, the operation has drawn an unusually public rebuke from the federal judiciary in Minnesota.

Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz said ICE had failed to comply with 96 court orders in more than 70 cases in January alone, describing the pattern as a “serious threat to the rule of law.” He scheduled, then later canceled, a contempt hearing for the agency’s acting director after ICE complied in one case but warned that systemic problems remained.

Separately, current and former officials say tensions have risen inside the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis. According to people familiar with internal discussions, senior Justice Department officials in Washington instructed local prosecutors not to open a criminal investigation into at least one of the shootings and instead to “build a case” against a victim’s partner in connection with protests. At least one prosecutor resigned, and others have threatened to leave over what they describe as political interference in charging decisions.

The Justice Department has not announced a civil rights investigation of either shooting, a step previous administrations often took in high‑profile police killings that raised questions about the use of force.

Public opinion shifts as communities adapt

National polling conducted as news of Pretti’s death broke found that 58% of Americans believe federal immigration enforcement efforts go too far, while 12% say they do not go far enough and 26% call them about right. Trump’s approval rating on immigration stood at 39%, with 53% disapproving.

Republicans still held a narrow edge over Democrats as the party voters trust more on immigration overall, but that margin had narrowed sharply in recent weeks.

In Minneapolis, immigrant advocates say the consequences are felt far from protest lines or polling stations. Community organizers report residents skipping medical appointments, keeping children home from school and closing small businesses for fear of encountering federal agents. Informal networks of volunteers track ICE and Border Patrol vehicles in real time using encrypted messaging apps, sending alerts and offering rides or temporary shelter.

More than 60 executives from Minnesota‑based or Minnesota‑linked companies, including 3M, Target, Best Buy, General Mills and UnitedHealth Group, signed an open letter urging “immediate de‑escalation” and “cooperation among all levels of government” to restore calm. The letter did not address the shootings directly or call for specific changes to immigration enforcement.

Athletes and entertainers have been less cautious. Players from the NBA and WNBA, including Tyrese Haliburton and Breanna Stewart, publicly expressed support for protesters and called for accountability. The National Basketball Players Association endorsed demonstrations in Minnesota. Musicians and actors including Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and Pedro Pascal urged fans to contact lawmakers to oppose funding for ICE and similar operations. Bruce Springsteen released a song titled “Streets of Minneapolis” on Jan. 28, dedicating it to Good and Pretti and referencing immigration raids in its lyrics.

An uncertain path to accountability

For the families of those killed, the wider political and cultural reverberations have done little to answer immediate questions about responsibility.

Good’s mother told reporters her daughter was “an amazing human being” and said she wants to know why a federal officer opened fire as Good drove away from her home neighborhood. Pretti’s relatives have pressed for unedited video footage, the names of the agents involved and an investigation by authorities not tied to DHS.

Legal experts say those answers may be slow in coming. While state prosecutors have authority to charge federal officers in some circumstances, such cases are rare and often complicated by jurisdictional disputes and federal defenses. Civil lawsuits may face obstacles such as qualified immunity, a doctrine that can protect government officials from personal liability unless their conduct clearly violated established law.

In Minneapolis, the corners of Portland Avenue South and 26th and Nicollet have become impromptu memorials, marked by flowers, candles and handmade signs. Protest art bearing Good’s and Pretti’s names has appeared on walls and bus stops nearby.

Federal agents continue to operate in the region, though state and local leaders say activity has recently decreased as negotiations between Minnesota officials and the White House continue.

For now, the two shootings remain under internal federal review, and local and national investigations are in early stages or not yet public. As the legal and political battles unfold, residents of Minneapolis continue to live with an unusual reality: immigration agents patrolling city streets, protests filling downtown and neighborhoods, and lingering uncertainty over how — or whether — federal law enforcement officers will be held to account when their actions turn deadly.