Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, has demanded that US President Donald Trump pull “untrained” federal immigration agents out of the state after the fatal shooting of a demonstrator in Minneapolis, the second such killing in the city amid an ongoing immigration crackdown.
As calls mounted for an independent investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Walz posed a question directly to Trump during a news briefing on Sunday.
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“What’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan?” Walz asked.
“What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? You thought fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us? Then you clearly underestimate the people of this state and nation.”
“We believe in law and order in this state; we believe in peace,” Walz added. “And we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person.”
Walz’s comments came after senior Trump administration officials defended Pretti’s killing, despite graphic video evidence appearing to contradict their accounts.
Federal agents shot Pretti dead on Saturday while scuffling with him on an icy roadway in Minneapolis, less than three weeks after an immigration officer shot dead Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and US citizen.
Trump administration officials have claimed that Pretti intended to harm the agents, as they did after Good’s death, pointing to a handgun they said was discovered on his person.
Videos shared widely on social media showed Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing about 10 shots at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant and thrown to the ground.
The footage has further inflamed the ongoing protests in Minneapolis against the presence of federal immigration agents, with about 1,000 people participating in a demonstration on Sunday.
The claims that border agents act in self-defence, echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other members of the Trump administration on Sunday, have prompted outrage among local law enforcement, many Minneapolis residents and Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton added their voices to the chorus of condemnation, releasing statements calling on Americans to stand up for their values.
“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” Obama wrote in a statement along with his wife, Michelle Obama.
Trump, who had earlier described Pretti as a “gunman”, on Sunday laid the blame for his and Good’s deaths on Democrats, accusing state and local authorities of refusing to cooperate with federal authorities.
“By doing this, Democrats are putting Illegal Alien Criminals over Taxpaying, Law-Abiding Citizens, and they have created dangerous circumstances for EVERYONE involved. Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Democratic strategist Arshad Hasan said Pretti’s killing and its aftermath were “deeply unsettling”, and accused federal agents of turning a low‑crime city into an “occupation”.
“I don’t know why a government agency should get particular exemptions from due process when somebody is murdered … Homicide is a crime for which the state and local law enforcement have jurisdiction,” Hasan told Al Jazeera, adding that the community was “grieving” and felt “under siege”.
Holding phone, not gun
Videos from the scene show Pretti holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.
In one video, Pretti can be seen filming while a federal agent violently pushes a woman to the ground. He then puts his body between the agent and the woman, before raising his arm to shield his face as the agent uses pepper spray against him.
Several agents then grab Pretti, forcing him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin Pretti down, a person is heard shouting a warning about a gun.
One agent then removes a gun from Pretti and steps away from the group with the firearm.
Moments later, an officer points his gun at Pretti’s back and fires four shots in rapid succession. Several more shots are heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.
“Americans do want to see violent criminals removed from the country, especially after they have served any sentences imposed by the courts,” Warrick told Al Jazeera.
“But in this case, people are seeing tactics, and they are seeing people targeted who have done nothing wrong other than being here in the United States without authorisation.”
“ICE does have the authority to carry out detention operations, but the tactics they use need to be in accordance with regulations that the American people will accept,” Warrick added, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
After top federal officials described Pretti as an “assassin” who had assaulted the agents, his parents on Saturday issued a statement condemning the Trump administration’s “sickening lies” about their son.
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” the family said in the statement.
“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. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
Speaking to NBC on the Meet the Press programme on Sunday, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said an investigation was necessary to get a full understanding of the killing.
Asked if agents had already removed the pistol from Pretti when they fired on him, Blanche said, “I do not know. And nobody else knows, either. That’s why we’re doing an investigation.”
Multiple senators from Trump’s Republican Party also called for a thorough investigation into the killing and for cooperation with local authorities.
“The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing,” Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said.
“The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to heavily Democratic Minneapolis for weeks, after conservative media reported alleged fraud by Somali immigrants.
Trump has repeatedly amplified the racially tinged accusations. On Sunday, he posted on his Truth Social platform: “Minnesota is a Criminal COVER UP of the massive Financial Fraud that has gone on!”
Minneapolis has one of the largest Somali communities in the US.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pushed back against Trump’s claims of fraud.
“It’s not about fraud, because if he sent people who understand forensic accounting, we’d be having a different conversation. But he’s sending armed masked men,” he said.