Second death in Minneapolis crackdown heaps pressure on Trump

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration faced intensifying pressure on Jan 25 over its mass immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after

federal agents shot dead a second US citizen

and graphic cell phone footage again contradicted officials’ immediate description of the incident.

Federal agents on the morning of Jan 23 shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, while scuffling with him on an icy roadway, less than three weeks after an

immigration officer fired on Ms Renee Good

, also 37, killing her in her car.

The Trump administration quickly claimed that Mr Pretti had intended to harm the federal agents – as it did after Ms Good’s death – pointing to a pistol it said was discovered on him.

However, video shared widely on social media and verified by US media showed Mr Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing around 10 shots at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with chemical irritant and thrown to the ground.

After top officials described Mr Pretti as an “assassin” who had violently “attacked” the agents, Mr Pretti’s parents issued a statement on Jan 23 condemning the Trump administration’s “sickening lies” about their son.

Asked on Jan 25 what she would say to Mr Pretti’s parents, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said: “Just that I’m grieved for them.”

“I truly am. I can’t even imagine losing a child,” she told Fox News’s The Sunday Briefing.

While continuing to defend the agents’ actions, her tone was markedly different from a day earlier, when she repeatedly told a briefing that Mr Pretti had attacked law enforcement and “was there to perpetuate violence.”

She said on Jan 25 that more clarity would come as an investigation into the incident continues.

Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche, speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, also said an investigation was necessary to get a full understanding of the killing.

Asked if agents had already removed the pistol from Mr Pretti when they fired on him, Mr Blanche said: “I do not know. And nobody else knows, either. That’s why we’re doing an investigation.”

‘Joint’ probe

Their comments came after multiple senators from US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party called for a thorough probe into the killing, and for cooperation with local authorities in the investigation.

“There must be a full joint federal and state investigation,” Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said.

The Trump administration controversially excluded local investigators from a probe into Ms Good’s killing.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, on Jan 24 said that the “federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period.”

The Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee requested that top officials testify at public hearings.

Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to heavily Democratic Minneapolis for weeks, after conservative media reported on alleged fraud by Somali immigrants – racially tinged accusations that Mr Trump has repeatedly amplified.

The city, known for its bitterly cold winters, has one of the highest concentrations of Somali immigrants in the country.

Court order

Since the beginning of “Operation Metro Surge,” many residents have begun carrying whistles to notify others of the presence of immigration agents, while sometimes violent skirmishes have broken out between the officers and protesters.

Following the latest killing, Mr Walz and other local officials reiterated their call for the agents to leave immediately.

Local authorities have sued the federal government seeking a court order to suspend the operation, with a first hearing set for Jan 26.

Late Jan 24, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration not to destroy or alter any evidence from the Mr Pretti killing.

Recent polling has shown voters increasingly upset with Mr Trump’s domestic immigration operations, as videos of masked agents seizing people off sidewalks – including children – and dramatic stories of US citizens being detained proliferate.

Barack and Michelle Obama on Jan 25 forcefully condemned the killing of Mr Pretti, saying in a joint statement it should be a “wake-up call” that core US values “are increasingly under assault.”

The former president and first lady blasted Mr Trump and his government as seeming “eager to escalate the situation,” demanding they work with Mr Walz and other local officials.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he’ll do everything in his power to prevent “horrific” actions by federal immigration officers.

The city has “a number of tools” to dissuade President Donald Trump from ordering an aggressive ICE operation, Mr Mamdani said on ABC’s This Week.

“And whether those tools are the utilisation of the courts or it’s the tools of the bully pulpit or it’s our own city policies, we’re going to exhaust every option to protect New Yorkers,” he said. 

The mayor defended New York’s sanctuary-city policies, which Mr Trump opposes, and allows cities to limit their cooperation with federal agencies seeking to deport undocumented immigrants.

“Right now, you have masked agents who are terrorising people across this country. You have the loss of what it means to be an American in your own country, the sense of safety and the sense of self,” he said. “That’s something we should all be fighting.”

Mr Mamdani and Mr Trump have been in touch following a November meeting at the White House where the president said he wanted to see the mayor succeed. 

Mr Mamdani said Mr Trump gave him his cell-phone number, and that their conversations have focused on delivering for New Yorkers. He declined to go into specifics. AFP, BLOOMBERG