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Filed
1:45 p.m. EST
01.26.2026
After taking pictures folks, federal brokers repeatedly failed to offer first assist, and officers spun narratives disproven by video.
Flowers at a makeshift memorial for 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol brokers on a Minneapolis road on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Shortly after Border Patrol brokers shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis road on Saturday, federal officers denounced Pretti as a “home terrorist,” claiming he was making an attempt to gun down immigration officers. That narrative shortly unraveled when bystanders’ cellphone footage that contradicted the Trump administration’s statements unfold throughout social media.
The deadly taking pictures of Pretti was not the primary time that federal immigration officers have killed civilians beneath the Trump administration, and it wasn’t the primary time that officers unfold deceptive accounts in regards to the taking pictures sufferer.
Federal immigration officers have shot and killed not less than 4 different folks in current months, The Marshall Venture discovered. In September, brokers shot Silverio Villegas González, a father initially from Mexico who labored as a prepare dinner, in a Chicago suburb whereas reportedly making an attempt to flee, in response to a report by WBEZ. In December, in Rio Grande Metropolis, Texas, a border patrol agent killed a 31-year-old Mexican citizen whereas making an attempt to detain him. On New 12 months’s Eve, an off-duty ICE agent shot Keith Porter, a Black father in Los Angeles, California, in response to CBS Information. Authorities stated Porter, a U.S. citizen, had raised a rifle on the officer, which his household disputes. And in early January, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, a White lady and likewise a U.S. citizen, in her automobile in Minneapolis.
After taking pictures each Good and Pretti, officers didn’t carry out CPR or some other medical assist, and when physicians on the scene tried to assist, federal brokers both delayed or stopped them from doing so. In line with AMP studies, immigration officers didn’t name 911 for 3 minutes after an agent shot Good and wouldn’t let a person who recognized himself as a health care provider assist her. In Pretti’s case, a licensed pediatrician stated she ran to the scene after witnessing the taking pictures from her house window, in response to a courtroom doc filed Saturday. She stated brokers wouldn’t let her by way of at first, however she insisted, as a result of nobody was serving to Pretti. She stated as a substitute of performing CPR, officers gave the impression to be counting his bullet holes.
Federal brokers have additionally shot at different folks as a part of the nationwide immigration dragnet. The Hint, a nonprofit information group that focuses on U.S. gun violence, counted 19 occasions officers opened hearth. In eight circumstances, the victims have been injured however survived. On Jan. 14, an ICE officer shot a person in Minneapolis within the leg. In October, a Border Patrol agent shot a Chicago lady a number of occasions. The officer who shot her appeared to brag about it in a textual content message, later introduced in courtroom proof. The message reportedly learn, “I fired 5 rounds, and she or he had 7 holes. Put that in your ebook boys.” That taking pictures occurred as a part of Operation Halfway Blitz, an immigration enforcement marketing campaign during which federal brokers fanned throughout Chicago. The administration has additionally performed large-scale blitzes in Los Angeles, Portland and New Orleans.
In line with The New York Instances, within the final 4 months, federal officers have fired on not less than 9 individuals who have been of their autos, like Good. In these circumstances, authorities stated the drivers have been making an attempt to make use of the autos to strike an officer. Within the taking pictures of Good, Division of Homeland Safety officers stated she had tried to run over officers in “an act of home terrorism.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shortly disputed the federal description of the incident after viewing a video of the taking pictures.
Along with shootings, federal immigration officers have pointed their weapons at activists and bystanders. Illinois State Rep. Hoan Huynh stated agents blocked his automobile and pointed a gun at him whereas he was making an attempt to alert group members in regards to the presence of immigration officers and inform them of their rights, in response to the Chicago Solar-Instances.
The Division of Homeland Safety has routinely defended the shootings as obligatory to guard officer security. Nevertheless, video and witnesses have disputed their accounts in lots of circumstances. After federal immigration brokers fatally shot González — the prepare dinner in Chicago — throughout a site visitors cease, Homeland Safety claimed an officer was critically injured. Physique digital camera video, nevertheless, captured the agent saying it was “nothing main,” in response to footage obtained by the Chicago Solar-Times.
A lawyer for Marimar Martinez, the girl shot 5 occasions in Chicago, stated bodycam video contradicts the federal government’s account that she drove in the direction of officers earlier than they shot her, in response to the Chicago Solar-Instances. Assault fees towards Martinez have been dropped.
At a information convention on Sunday, Walz known as on President Donald Trump to withdraw ICE and Border Patrol brokers from Minnesota, and he lambasted federal officers for pushing falsehoods about Pretti within the speedy aftermath of his dying. “Besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a coworker and a good friend is despicable past all description,” Walz stated.
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