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Former President Barack Obama calls Critical care nurse dies at the hands of Border Patrol It was a “heartbreaking tragedy” and warned that “many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under attack”.
mark shooting He and his wife are “a wake-up call to every American,” urging the Trump administration to work with city and state officials to “avoid more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals.”
“Federal law enforcement and immigration officers have a difficult job. But Americans expect them to perform their duties in a lawful, responsible manner and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety,” Obama wrote.
“That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we’re seeing the exact opposite. For weeks, people across the country have been outraged that masked ICE recruits and other federal agents were operating with impunity, engaging in tactics that seemed designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger residents of major American cities.
“This has to stop.”
along with local leaders democrat Across the country, federal immigration officials are asked to leave minnesota after border patrol agents Shooting Alex Pretty and sparked clashes with protesters in Minneapolis, a city already rocked by another shooting weeks earlier.
The latest shooting has sparked a legal battle over control of the investigation amid a wave of immigrants sweeping Minneapolis and surrounding cities.
The video was filmed by a bystander and produced by Associated Press It seems Contradicting statements from President Donald Trump’s administrationThe statement said agents shot Preeti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, “defensively” when he approached them Saturday morning.
Preity stood between an immigration agent and a woman on the street, holding only a mobile phone. No footage shows him carrying a weapon. During the melee, agents appeared to disarm him and then fired several shots after discovering he was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Preity is licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Within hours of the shooting, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem Pretty attacked police officers, and U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said he wanted to “slaughter law enforcement officers.” On X, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretty a “potential assassin.”
Relatives said they were heartbroken
Preeti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also furious” with the authorities, describing Preeti as a kind soul who wanted to change the world. Relatives are outraged by federal officials’ account of the shooting.
“The government’s sickening lies about our son are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex clearly was not holding a gun when he was attacked by Trump’s murderous and cowardly ICE thugs. He was holding a cell phone in his right hand and raising his free left hand above his head, trying to protect the woman ICE had just pushed down with pepper spray,” the family statement said. “Please find out the truth about our son.”
A federal judge has issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shootings after state and county officials filed a lawsuit.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the lawsuit filed Saturday seeks to preserve evidence collected by federal officials but that state authorities have not yet been able to examine. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St. Paul.
“A full, fair and transparent investigation into his shooting death by a Homeland Security agent is non-negotiable,” Ellison said in a statement.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and Homeland Security Department named in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Sunday.
Drew Evans, director of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates police shootings, told reporters Saturday that federal officials prevented his agency from entering the shooting scene even though the agency obtained a signed judicial warrant.
However, department officials were working on the scene Sunday morning.
Officials said the Minnesota National Guard was temporarily assisting local police at the direction of Gov. Tim Walz, sending troops to the scene of the shooting and a federal building where police have faced daily standoffs with demonstrators.
But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said on CBS Sunday morning Facing the whole country “This goes back to Minneapolis police responding to calls.”
O’Hara said he saw no evidence that Pretty was brandishing a handgun and that the crackdown left his department exhausted.
“It’s taking a huge toll, trying to manage all this chaos on top of having to be a police department in a big city. It’s too much,” he said.
Gun groups defend right to bear arms at protests
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questioned Preti at a news conference Saturday as to why she was armed. But gun rights groups point out that it is legal to carry firearms during this period. protest.
“Every peaceful Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms, including when participating in a protest, serving as an observer, or exercising his or her First Amendment rights,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement. “Those rights do not disappear when someone is legally armed.”
The president lashed out at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor on social media.
He shared a photo of the gun that immigration officials said had been found, saying: “What’s going on? Where are the local police? Why aren’t they allowed to protect ICE officers?”
Trump said Democratic governors and mayors “are fomenting insurrection with grandiose, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric.”
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of several Democratic lawmakers asking federal immigration authorities to leave Minnesota. She also urged Democrats to refuse to vote to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying via social media: “We have a responsibility to protect Americans from tyranny.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer later said Democrats would not vote for a spending package that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. Schumer’s announcement raised the possibility of a partial government shutdown on Jan. 30 when funds run out.
Pretty was shot to death on Jan. 7, more than a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good, sparking widespread protests.
video show shooting
As Saturday’s clashes began, bystander video showed protesters whistling and shouting profanities at federal officers on a south Minneapolis strip mall.
The video shows Preity stepping forward after an immigration officer shoved a woman. Pretty appeared to be pointing a cell phone at the officer, but there was no indication he was armed.
The officer pushed Preeti into the chest and pepper-sprayed him and the woman.
Soon, at least seven police officers pushed Preeti to the ground. Several officers tried to put the man’s arms behind his back as he appeared to resist. An officer holding a can struck him multiple times near the head.
A gunshot was fired, but police surrounded the man and it was unclear where the gunfire came from. Several police officers stepped back. More gunshots are heard. The police backed away and the man lay motionless in the street.
Bovino is the public face of Trump’s crackdown and was pressed repeatedly on CNN Sunday state of the union address Look for evidence that Preeti assaulted law enforcement.
He said it was “very clear” that Preeti had failed to comply with police orders.
“Unfortunately, he must face the consequences because he committed himself to a crime scene,” he said. “He made a decision.”
Protests continue
After the shootings, demonstrations broke out in cities including New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, despite frigid weather with temperatures around minus six degrees (minus 21 degrees Celsius), protesters gathered in the neighborhood where Pretty was shot.
After the shooting, the angry crowd yelled obscenities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. Protesters dragged large bins from alleys into the street and set the contents of at least one bin on fire.
As night fell, hundreds of people mourned silently at the memorial that continues to stand at the scene of the shooting. A nearby donut shop and a clothing store remained open, providing a warm place for protesters.
By morning, the scene was calm.
Brett Williams, 37, traveled from the city’s outskirts to attend the morning vigil.
“I stand with a brother whose life was taken too soon,” he said. “He stood up for immigrants. We are all immigrants.”