Alex Pretti
"An individual approached US border patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual but the armed suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. (...) They responded according to their training, and took action to defend the officer's life and those of the public around him. And, I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign."
Kristi Noem is in Washington, standing behind a lectern embossed with the emblem of the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS). She's wearing a thick blue jacket with an American flag embroidered onto the side. Her hair is glossy; her eyes are smoky. She's telling us about a criminal. A "domestic terrorist" who, only a few hours earlier, had come out onto the streets of Minneapolis with a plan to "inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement". Thankfully though, federal agents, who had been deployed on "targeted operations...against an illegal alien whose criminal history included domestic assault, intentionally inflicting bodily harm, disorderly conduct, and driving without a valid license", took the criminal's gun, neutralised the threat, and protected the city from harm.
A thousand miles away, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is standing behind a lectern of his own. He's angry. Hands gripping either edge of the wood, he speaks into the microphone, "We will not be stonewalled. What we've already seen, and you all saw this morning, before any investigation is done, you have the most powerful people in the federal government spinning stories and, and putting up pictures of unrelated people...and a picture of a firearm to try and spin a narrative. And I just [tell] Americans, "This will end when enough Americans say this will end.""
Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, an avid outdoorsman and mountain biker. He is described as being "quiet and warmhearted". He was a licensed gun owner and a white American citizen. On Saturday 24th January, 2026, at 9:05 AM, he was "standing in the middle of a snowy Minneapolis street, gesturing to traffic with his left hand and holding a phone in his right hand to film ICE agents."
He was then seen with his arm around a person bringing them to the side of the road. Nearby, an agent pushed another person over, and Pretti then stood between that person and the agent. The agent pepper sprayed him in the face, and Pretti raised his left hand defensively and turned away, apparently still filming on his mobile.
His back to the agents, Pretti pocketed his phone and began to help the woman on the floor. An agent continued spraying in his direction, while other agents rushed towards them. They dragged Pretti away from the woman he was attempting to help, and several agents wrestled him to the floor.
Videos show him face forward with his hands in front of him as he tries to crawl away - visibly not holding a gun. An agent in a grey jacket can be seen reaching to remove something from Pretti’s waist. Next to him, a different agent draws his gun. The agent with the grey jacket turns away from Pretti, now holding what appears to be a pistol in his right hand which was previously empty.
But less than a second after this, an agent shoots Pretti. Ten shots in total are heard. Another agent also draws his gun, but it’s not immediately clear from the footage if he fires. For at least the final five shots, all of the agents are standing clear of the body.
(FROM BBC VERIFY)
This news comes less than three weeks after the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in her car, also in Minnesota, along with the detainment of 5-year old Liam Ramos by ICE agents in the last week. The situation in Minnesota has become, in the words of Walz, an "inflection point" - the line has well and truly been crossed.
The federal government's plan seems that it could be to incite violence as a prerequisite for Donald Trump to be able to deploy the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. In response to the situation, the President posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, "The mayor and governor are inciting insurection, with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric... LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!" along with a picture of Pretti's alleged firearm.
It's not the first time the administration has used the words, "inciting insurrection" to refer to Walz and Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey. Trump's key advisor, Stephen Miller, also accused Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar of "flaming the flames of insurrection for the singular purpose of stopping the deportation of illegals who invaded the country."
The 1807 Century Insurrection Act would allow the use of active-duty military personnel to perform law-enforcement duties within the US. Its implementation would mean Trump would be able to deploy the National Guard as a personal army of sorts, to quell civil unrest and continue the work of ICE agents in Minnesota.
To me, the most egregious facet of this situation is the US Government's blatant lying in the face of contradictory evidence. The Trump Administration continues to push a narrative of Pretti being a violent instigator, despite there being publicly available video evidence which directly disproves that account.
This is propaganda. This is authoritarianism. Donald Trump's administration is telling US citizens that four equals five, and that any suggestion to the contrary is an "unlawful obstruction, combination, or assemblage, or rebellion" against the government.
The question remains whether or not the persecutors of this federally sanctioned violence will be brought to justice following the end of Trump's presidency, as it may depend upon Trump's adherence to law in allowing his presidency to end. Personally, I'm not entirely convinced that the actions of his administration indicate any faith in his dedication to the continuation of democratic process.
I hesitate to end this on a positive note. To act as if the state of politics at the moment isn't at its most dire would be delusional. We are in a state of entropy, the world order as we know it is crumbling, and with it, the democratic systems we have come to take for granted. The threat of global conflict becomes more real with each passing day, and honestly, it's exhausting.
but.
If there is any hope to be found, it is with the people. The protestors on the streets, the people striking from work, the vast mutual aid networks. People delivering food to neighbours so they aren't forced to leave their homes, or standing guard outside to defend them against ICE. Ironically, Minneapolis does not need Trump's intervention to be great again - because of him, they're proving that they always were.
Sources
BBC News
Mike Bedigan
The Killing of Alex Pretti | Explainer - Heather Cox Richardson (Youtube)
Grief has become infrastructure in Minneapolis, a city mobilized by trauma (24/01/26) - CNN
(written 25/01/26, edits to be added if necessary)