MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Minneapolis shooting during federal immigration raid triggers U.S. nationwide backlash
The case of the 37-year-old nurse murdered by ICE agents threatens to become a new test for the boundaries between federal authority, state autonomy, and public trust Protesters returned to the streets of Minneapolis demanding accountability after Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot dead during a federal immigration enforcement operation. Multiple videos of the incident are now central to official reviews, as the episode triggers a fresh political clash between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Trump administration—set against a broader national fight over “sanctuary” policies and how far local authorities should cooperate with federal immigration agencies.
Walz renewed his call for President Donald Trump to withdraw federal agents from Minnesota, calling the shooting “an inflection point” for the country. Trump, in turn, escalated pressure on state and city leaders. In a Truth Social post, he demanded that Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey hand over for deportation “criminal illegal aliens” held in state prisons and jails—an argument that echoes the administration’s wider campaign against jurisdictions that limit cooperation with ICE and other federal agencies.
Conflicting accounts as videos drive the investigation
State and federal officials have offered competing narratives about the moments before the fatal shot on Saturday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was killed because he was “brandishing” a gun. Local officials have countered that the weapon was legally registered and that the core question is whether Pretti displayed it as a threat—or was disarmed before the shooting.
New “angle” video shows moments before federal agents’ shooting that killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, near Glam Doll Donuts.
— GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) January 24, 2026
Minneapolis police say he was a gun owner with a valid permit to carry; DHS has said he was armed with a gun and two magazines. #ICE pic.twitter.com/xpy030nt9B
On the federal side, Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino urged caution, arguing that an investigation is needed to “establish the facts” given the video evidence. Pretti’s parents, meanwhile, have publicly called for “the truth” about their son’s death.
The broader fault line: sanctuary policies and federal-local limits
The Minnesota standoff comes as the White House intensifies a political and legal push against sanctuary-style restrictions nationwide. In 2025, for example, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging Chicago and Illinois sanctuary laws, reinforcing the principle that Washington cannot compel state and local governments to carry out federal immigration enforcement—an argument tied to the Tenth Amendment.
In Minnesota, tensions sharpened further after the state Department of Corrections rebutted federal claims about the criminal background of the person agents said they were trying to detain, calling the public statements “inaccurate” and stating the individual had not been in state prison custody.
What comes next
The inquiry is unfolding amid institutional distrust. Walz has accused federal leaders of smearing the victim to justify force, while federal officials argue the deployment targets crime and facilitates deportations.
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Read all comments”Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, ...
Jan 27th, 2026 - 02:27 pm +1On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was “FASCISM!”
Fascism is government by the few and for the few. The objective is seizure and control of the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the state.” “The people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run the people.”
“The basic principles of democracy stand in the way of their desires; hence — democracy must go! Anyone who is not a member of their inner gang has to do what he’s told. They permit no civil liberties, no equality before the law.”
Fascists “make their own rules and change them when they choose…. They maintain themselves in power by use of force combined with propaganda based on primitive ideas of ‘blood’ and ‘race,’ by skillful manipulation of fear and hate, and by false promise of security. The propaganda glorifies war and insists it is smart and ‘realistic’ to be pitiless and violent.”
... it was important for Americans to understand the tactics fascists would use to take power in the United States. They would try to gain power “under the guise of ‘super-patriotism’ and ‘super-Americanism.’” And they would use three techniques:
First, they would pit religious, racial, and economic groups against one another to break down national unity. Part of that effort to divide and conquer would be a “well-planned ‘hate campaign’ against minority races, religions, and other groups.”
Second, they deny any need for international cooperation, because that would fly in the face that their supporters were better than everyone. “In place of international cooperation, the fascists seek to substitute a perverted sort of ultra-nationalism which tells their people that they are the only people in the world who count. ”
Third, fascists would insist that “the world has but two choices — either fascism or communism, and they label as
Cont.
Jan 31st, 2026 - 03:53 pm +1Third, fascists would insist that “the world has but two choices — either fascism or communism, and they label as ‘communists’ everyone who refuses to support them.”
It is “vitally important” to learn to spot them, “even though they adopt names and slogans with popular appeal, drape themselves with the American flag, and attempt to carry out their program in the name of the democracy they are trying to destroy.”
Trump's just following Putin's orders to start a civil war in the US. Move along, nothing to see here...
Jan 26th, 2026 - 03:19 am 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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