Protests are spreading in Minneapolis, where federal agents killed another person in a shooting during a raid as part of Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented migrants. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse and American citizen, was shot in the chest at point-blank range. This is the second death in the Minnesota city, following protester Renee Good. Another citizen was injured by federal gunfire in recent days, the third incident in a month.
"Let our patriots at ICE do their job," Trump wrote on Truth. The murdered man's family responded: "The government is telling disgusting lies."
Adding to the resentment of the local population, who have been demonstrating in the streets in recent hours, are the arrests of immigrant children, the latest of which is a two-year-old girl.
The circumstances of the latest tragedy are still unclear, but some images are already circulating on social media. A video that was also broadcast on US television shows people wearing masks and tactical vests wrestling with a man on a snow-covered street before gunfire is heard. In the clip, the man falls to the ground and more gunshots are heard. A witness claims that Pretti was unarmed, holding only a cell phone in his hand and trying to help a woman. This version is also confirmed by images released by the New York Times and CNN.
The Department of Homeland Security rushed to provide its version, citing self-defense, as in Good's case. "While department law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against a person they believed was in the country illegally and 'wanted for violent assault,' a man approached US Border Patrol agents with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol," spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin explained, although the weapon isn't visible in the images; it appears to be a cellphone. "Agents attempted to disarm the armed suspect, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the safety of his colleagues, one officer fired defensive shots," she added, noting that the man also had "two magazines and no identification."
Trump supported the official story by publishing a photo of the victim's alleged weapon on Truth and accusing the city's mayor and Minnesota's governor of failing to cooperate with ICE. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, for his part, called on Trump to end these operations. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, meanwhile, requested assistance from the National Guard. Protests also took place in New York and Washington.
