On Saturday, a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti at shut vary after Pretti had been pepper-sprayed, crushed, and compelled onto his knees by different brokers.
Pretti, 37, was a US citizen and reportedly in the world to look at brokers’ actions. He was additionally a registered nurse and a authorized gun proprietor with a allow to hold a weapon — one which he was now not in possession of when he was shot to dying.
Pretti’s dying is at the very least the third capturing by immigration brokers in the Minneapolis space this yr, and the second the place the one who was shot died.
The shootings have understandably attracted probably the most consideration nationwide. But because the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis started in early January, there have been widespread abuses of energy US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) brokers, together with use of chemical crowd management like pepper spray and tear gasoline; brutality in opposition to protesters, bystanders, and immigrants; and baseless and infrequently inflammatory arrests and detentions.
On January 7, simply days into an immigration crackdown focusing on the Minneapolis space that Trump officers heralded as “largest immigration operation ever,” an ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, shot and killed Renee Good as she tried to drive away.
The White House, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and different federal officers shortly backed Ross to the hilt, describing Good as a home terrorist and describing the capturing as justified, regardless of video proof on the contrary.
Since then, the message behind the administration’s assist for Ross and the capturing appears to have been clearly acquired by ICE brokers in Minnesota, who’ve behaved way more like an occupying power than a legislation enforcement operation: Not solely have native officers pleaded with them to go away the state, they’re additionally working from behind masks and with militarized power, together with tactical gear, riot management brokers, and assault weapons.
Saturday in Minneapolis. Kerem Yucel/AFP through Getty Images
They have even pitted themselves in opposition to native police: A Minneapolis-area police chief mentioned this earlier week that a few of his off-duty officers have been harassed and racially profiled by immigration brokers.
In a number of instances, federal brokers have been documented utilizing Good’s killing as a menace in opposition to different observers documenting their actions, asking one lady, “Have y’all not learned?” earlier than grabbing her cellphone and detaining her.
What immigration brokers have been doing in Minneapolis
Other incidents are too quite a few to tally in full, however a number of stand out.
Last week, federal brokers violently detained two Target workers, each of whom a Minnesota state consultant mentioned have been US residents and who have been later launched. At least one of many workers was left in a close-by car parking zone with accidents.
In one other incident, a US citizen was dragged from her automotive by federal brokers after she was stopped on the best way to a physician’s appointment; brokers broke the home windows of her car and carried her hanging face down by her legs and arms. And federal brokers have been recorded pepper-spraying an already-detained man in the face at shut vary.
ICE brokers detain a girl after pulling her from a automotive on January 13, 2026 in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
A Minneapolis household was additionally caught up and brutalized by federal brokers final week: On the best way dwelling from a basketball sport, a household of eight — together with a 6-month-old and 5 different youngsters — was tear-gassed inside their car by federal brokers. All survived, however the 6-month-old required CPR.
The second of three shootings by federal immigration brokers in the Minneapolis space was additionally a case of mistaken identification: ICE brokers shot a Venezuelan man in the leg, wounding him, regardless that he was not their authentic goal.
More not too long ago, ChongLy “Scott” Thao, additionally a US citizen, was detained in his dwelling at gunpoint by federal brokers and brought away in sub-freezing temperatures carrying solely his underwear, sandals, and a blanket. Thao was arrested and not using a warrant and in the end launched hours later — with out an apology for his detention or for the injury to his dwelling, Thao mentioned.
An individual is pinned to the bottom by federal brokers and a chemical irritant sprayed instantly into his face on January 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune through Getty Images
Thao’s detention is a component of a bigger sample in Minneapolis, the place ICE brokers are more and more appearing in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects in opposition to unreasonable searches and seizures. As my colleague Eric Levitz wrote on Friday, ICE has determined, based on a intently held inner memo first obtained by the Associated Press, that it will probably enter houses with solely an administrative warrant, quite than a judicial warrant. Such administrative warrants don’t require a choose’s approval and could be issued by ICE brokers themselves.
ICE’s crackdown has additionally swept up youngsters in the Minneapolis space, together with an incident this week the place brokers tried to make use of a 5-year-old baby as “bait” to detain others by having him knock on the door of his dwelling after taking his father into custody, based on officers at a Minneapolis-area faculty district. They additionally detained a 2-year-old and her father on Thursday and briefly eliminated each of them to Texas.
Local publications just like the Minneapolis Star-Tribune — and bystanders filming interactions, as Pretti appeared to have been doing earlier than he was shot and killed on Saturday — have created a extra complete report of ICE and CBP’s actions in the state. But even this comparatively restricted variety of incidents exhibits a transparent sample of unchecked aggression and ongoing escalation by brokers.
“How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested on Saturday. But for the Trump administration, it’s not clear these deaths are very a lot of an issue in any respect.
