ICE agents kill a doctor in Minneapolis: protests begin in US cities

On Saturday, January 24, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot and killed an American man in Minneapolis, sparking fierce protests and condemnation from local leaders. This is the second such incident this month. This was reported by the agency Reuters.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security characterized the incident as an assault, stating that the Border Patrol officer opened fire in self-defense after a man with a gun approached him and fiercely resisted attempts to disarm him.

However, eyewitness video footage from the scene, verified and reviewed by Reuters, showed a man identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, as he tried to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.

The video shows Pretti filming a federal agent pushing one woman away and pushing another to the ground. Pretti stands between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to defend himself as the agent peppersprays him.

Several agents then grab Pretti, who resists, and force him to stand on all fours. While the agents are holding the man, someone shouts something that sounds like a gun warning. The video shows one of the agents taking a gun from Pretti and walking away from the group with it.

In a few moments, an officer with a gun pointed at the man's back fires four shots in a row. Several more shots are then heard, and presumably another agent shoots Pretti.

First, all the agents stepped away from the man's body, which was lying on the road. Then, some agents allegedly provided Pretta with medical care while he was lying on the ground, while other agents pushed passersby away.

The shooting of Pretta, an intensive care unit nurse, drew hundreds of protesters to the area to confront masked, armed agents who used tear gas and stun grenades. Demonstrations also erupted in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, among other cities.

It also exacerbated tensions between state and federal officials, who were already at odds with the U.S. administration Donald Trump over the shooting of another US citizen, Renee Goode, on January 7. They refused to allow local officials to participate in the investigation of the incident.

Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem said the man killed on Saturday attacked agents during a migrant screening raid. Federal officials released an image of the gun that they said Pretti was carrying during the shooting.

"He was not there to protest peacefully. He was there to commit violence," Noem said. Local leaders, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have questioned this version.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said that the murdered man was a legal gun owner and had no criminal record, except for traffic violations.

As people protested the shooting, city police and state highway patrol officers arrived to control the crowd. The situation calmed down late Saturday night after federal agents left the area, although protesters remained in the streets for several hours afterward.

Volz and other officials called for an immediate halt to operations targeting migrant violations.

"How many more residents, how many more Americans have to die or be seriously injured for this operation to end?" said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

• On January 8, 2026, it became known that an ICE officer shot a woman who, according to the US authorities, tried to run over law enforcement officers. After that, protests began in Minneapolis.
• On January 15, Trump said that may introduce a law about an uprising if "corrupt Minnesota politicians" do not stop attacking Migration and Customs Enforcement officers.