Protests continue in US cities as Trump officials defend Minneapolis killing

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MINNEAPOLIS — Protests continued in Minneapolis and other US cities on Sunday after the Trump administration defended the fatal shooting of US citizen Alex Prettiby border patrol agents on Saturday, even as video evidence contradicted their version of events and tensions grew between local law enforcement and federal officers.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said America was at an "inflection point" and repeated calls for US President Donald Trump to remove federal immigration agents from the city.
As residents visited a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in frigid temperatures and snow to mark Saturday's fatal shooting, Trump administration officials stated that Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defense.
Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, is the second American to be fatally shot by federal immigration officers this month in Minneapolis, where Trump, a Republican, has deployed thousands of armed and masked agents in a deportation effort with little precedent.
"The victims are Border Patrol agents," Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, told CNN's "State of the Union" program.
That official line, echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other members of the administration, drew outrage from local Democratic leaders and law enforcement.
Sunday saw hundreds of protesters in Minneapolis brave freezing conditions to protest the shooting, as armed and masked agents used tear gas and stun grenades against them.
Protests have spread to other US cities, with people seen holding signs saying "Justice for Alex" and "abolish ICE" in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The chief executives of more than 60 Minnesota-based businesses, including 3M, Best Buy, Target, and UnitedHealth Group have also signed an open letter calling for "an immediate de-escalation of tensions" and for local and federal officials "to work together to find real solutions".
Videos of Saturday's killing verified by Reuters show Pretti holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.
Pretti can be seen filming while a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper sprays him.
Several agents then take hold of Pretti, who struggles with them, and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin Pretti down, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about a gun.
Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a handgun from Pretti's waistband area and stepping away from the group with it.
Moments later, an officer points his gun at Pretti's back and fires four shots in quick succession. More shots are heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.
Darius Reeves, the former head of ICE's field office in Baltimore, told Reuters that federal agents' apparent lack of communication was troubling. "It's clear no one is communicating to me, based on my observation of how that team responded," Reeves said.
Minnesota officials say Pretti had a valid state permit to carry a concealed gun in public, which the US Supreme Court ruled was a constitutional right in 2022.
Tensions in the city were already running high after a federal immigration agent fatally shot US citizen Renee Good on January 7 after approaching her in her parked vehicle. Trump officials said she was trying to ram the agent with the vehicle but other observers said bystander video suggests she was attempting to steer away from the officer who shot her.

Advertisements Democratic ex-presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have spoken out against the shooting, with Obama saying it is a wake-up call and Clinton urging Americans to “stand up” for democracy.
On Sunday Obama and his wife, Michelle, described Pretti’s killing as “a heartbreaking tragedy” and “a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault”.
Clinton joined the condemnation, saying the US was facing a historic moment that would shape it for years to come and urging Americans to speak out and “show that our nation still belongs to we the people”.
The former president issued a statement saying horrible scenes had played out Minneapolis and elsewhere “that I never thought would take place in America”.
The calls have come as pressure mounts on the Trump administration from all sides of the political divide to fully investigate Pretti’s killing by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after Saturday's fatal shooting, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”
A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to the shooting.
Sen. Pete Ricketts, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called for a “prioritized, transparent investigation.”
“My support for funding ICE remains the same,” the Nebraska Republican, who is up for reelection, said online. “But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble.”
Trump and other administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-line immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. Many Republicans either echoed that sentiment or stayed silent.
In a lengthy social media post on Sunday evening, Trump called on Minnesota’s Democratic leadership to “formally cooperate” with his administration and pressed Congress to ban so-called sanctuary cities.
He listed a series of requests that he said were "rooted in common sense", most notably petitioning US Congress to end sanctuary cities, which he alleged were the cause of "all these problems".
Meanwhile, approval of Trump's handling of immigration — long a political asset for the president and the GOP — has tumbled. Just 38% of US adults approved of how Trump was handling immigration in January, down from 49% in March, according to an AP-NORC poll. — Agencies