Minneapolis capturing: What to know concerning the dying of Alex Pretti

[ad_1] 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 within the space to observe agents’ actions . He was additionally a registered nurse and a authorized gun proprietor with a allow to hold a weapon — one which he was no longer in possession of when he was shot to dying.

Pretti’s dying is not less than the third capturing by immigration brokers within the Minneapolis space this yr, and the second the place the one that was shot died.

The shootings have understandably attracted essentially the most consideration nationwide. However 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 Safety (CBP) brokers, together with widespread use of chemical crowd management like pepper spray and tear fuel; 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 concentrating 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 Home, Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, and different federal officers rapidly backed Ross to the hilt, describing Good as a domestic terrorist and describing the capturing as justified, regardless of video proof on the contrary.

Since then, the message behind the administration’s help for Ross and the capturing appears to have been clearly obtained by ICE brokers in Minnesota, who've behaved far more like an occupying power than a legislation enforcement operation: Not solely have native officers pleaded with them to depart the state, they're additionally working from behind masks and with militarized power, together with tactical gear, riot management brokers, and assault weapons.

<img alt="Federal agents using flash grenades" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257455112.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Saturday in Minneapolis. Kerem Yucel/AFP by way of Getty Photos

They've even pitted themselves in opposition to native police: A Minneapolis-area police chief said this earlier week that a few of his off-duty officers have been harassed and racially profiled by immigration brokers.

In a number of circumstances, federal brokers have been documented using Good’s killing as a threat in opposition to different observers documenting their actions, asking one girl, “Have y’all not realized?” earlier than grabbing her cellphone and detaining her.

What immigration brokers have been doing in Minneapolis

Different incidents are too quite a few to tally in full, however a number of stand out.

Final week, federal brokers violently detained two Target employees , each of whom a Minnesota state consultant mentioned have been US residents and who have been later launched. Not less than one of many workers was left in a close-by parking zone with accidents.

In one other incident, a US citizen was dragged from her car by federal brokers after she was stopped on the best way to a physician’s appointment; brokers broke the home windows of her automobile and carried her hanging face down by her legs and arms. And federal brokers have been recorded pepper-spraying an already-detained man within the face at shut vary.

<img alt="ICE agents detaining a woman" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2255533873.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> ICE brokers detain a lady after pulling her from a automotive on January 13, 2026 in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Photos

A Minneapolis household was additionally caught up and brutalized by federal brokers final week: On the best way residence from a basketball sport, a household of eight — together with a 6-month-old and 5 different youngsters — was tear-gassed inside their vehicle by federal agents . All survived, however the 6-month-old required CPR.

The second of three shootings by federal immigration brokers within the Minneapolis space was additionally a case of mistaken identification: ICE agents shot a Venezuelan man within the leg, wounding him, though he was not their authentic goal.

Extra not too long ago, ChongLy “Scott” Thao, additionally a US citizen, was detained in his home at gunpoint by federal brokers and brought away in sub-freezing temperatures sporting solely his underwear, sandals, and a blanket. Thao was arrested with out a warrant and finally launched hours later — with out an apology for his detention or for the harm to his residence, Thao mentioned.

<img alt="A person is pinned to the ground by federal agents and a chemical irritant sprayed directly into his face " data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2257473113.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> An individual is pinned to the bottom by federal brokers and a chemical irritant sprayed straight into his face on January 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune by way of Getty Photos

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 Modification, 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 could enter houses with solely an administrative warrant, quite than a judicial warrant. Such administrative warrants don't require a decide’s approval and could be issued by ICE brokers themselves.

ICE’s crackdown has additionally swept up youngsters within the Minneapolis space, together with an incident this week the place brokers attempted to use a 5-year-old child as “bait” to detain others by having him knock on the door of his residence after taking his father into custody, based on officers at a Minneapolis-area faculty district. Additionally they detained a 2-year-old and her father on Thursday and briefly eliminated each of them to Texas.

Native 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 document of ICE and CBP’s actions within the state. However even this comparatively restricted variety of incidents reveals a transparent sample of unchecked aggression and ongoing escalation by brokers.

“What number of extra residents, what number of extra Individuals must die or get badly damage for this operation to finish?” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested on Saturday. However for the Trump administration, it’s not clear these deaths are very a lot of an issue in any respect.